Biomedical Sciences Projects by Department

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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Projects	Primary Supervisor	Department	Research Themes	Research Opportunity
A novel link between metabolism and host defence: O-GlcNAc glycosylation	Professor Jose Villadangos	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Analysing protein structures	Dr David Ascher	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Characterisation of the changes of the endocytic and secretory pathway of dendritic cells upon activation	Associate Professor Isabelle Rouiller	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology		Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Deciphering structures of bacterial and viral molecular machines that inject toxins into our cells	Dr. Debnath Ghosal	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease,Cellular Imaging and Structural Biology	Masters by Research, Master of Biomedical Science
Decoding the trafficking of immune receptors	A/Prof Justine Mintern	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Cell Signalling,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Designing better drugs	Dr David Ascher	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology		PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Designing new optogenetic tools for biomedical research	A/Prof Danny Hatters	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cell Signalling	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Development of Novel antimalarial drugs	Professor Leann Tilley	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Therapeutics and Translation	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Exploiting nanoparticles as vaccines	A/Prof Justine Mintern	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Cell Signalling,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Finding clarity within a blizzard- guiding the solution of cryo-EM structures	Dr David Ascher	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology		PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Immunoregulatory functions of the MARCH family of ubiquitin ligases	Professor Jose Villadangos	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Improving the diagnostic outcomes of patients with mitochondrial disease	Dr David Stroud	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Systems Biology,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease,Cardio-Respiratory	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Investigating mechanisms of protein trafficking to human mitochondria	Dr Diana Stojanovski	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease,Systems Biology	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Malaria parasite-infected red blood cells: a renovator’s dream	Professor Leann Tilley	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cellular Imaging and Structural Biology	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Manipulating immunity to fight infection and tumours	A/Prof Justine Mintern	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Mapping the proteome vulnerable to unfolding and aggregation under proteostasis stress	A/Prof Danny Hatters	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Personalising treatments for genetic diseases	Dr David Ascher	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Protein trafficking and cellular architecture	Professor Leann Tilley	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cellular Imaging and Structural Biology	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Rational Protein Engineering	Dr David Ascher	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology		PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Sex in human malaria parasites	Dr Matthew Dixon	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Small molecules for BIG targets- Targeting protein-protein interactions with fragments	Dr David Ascher	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Systems Biology,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Solving the native structure of the malaria parasite using cryo-electron microscopy	Professor Leann Tilley	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cellular Imaging and Structural Biology	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Structural Biology of Cancer	Professor Michael Parker	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Cell Signalling,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Honours students
Structural Biology of Infection	Professor Michael Parker	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Honours students
Structural Neurobiology	Professor Michael Parker	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cell Signalling,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Honours students
Tackling drug resistance	Dr David Ascher	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
The amyloidogenic protease inhibitor Cystatin C in health and disease	Prof Jose Villadangos	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cardio-Respiratory,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
The role of mitochondria in Coxiella burnetii infection	Dr Diana Stojanovski	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Treating the person not the disease	Dr David Ascher	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease,Systems Biology	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Understanding how Anthrax toxins function	Associate Professor Isabelle Rouiller	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research
Understanding how membrane-less organelles form with optogenetic tools	A/Prof Danny Hatters	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Understanding how the ATPase p97 functions at molecular level	Associate Professor Isabelle Rouiller	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Understanding immune dysfunction in acute myeloid leukemia	A/Prof Justine Mintern	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cell Signalling,Cancer in Biomedicine,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Understanding the assembly of mitochondrial machines	Dr David Stroud	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cardio-Respiratory,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease,Systems Biology	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Understanding the Molecular Consequences of Mutations	Dr David Ascher David Ascher	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Using the immune system to kill tumours	A/Prof Justine Mintern	Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Cell Signalling,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science

Microbiology and Immunology

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Projects	Primary Supervisor	Department	Research Themes	Research Opportunity
A cell-based model of sporadic prion disease	Associate Professor Vicki Lawson	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
Age-dependent susceptibility of neurons to RNA virus infection	Dr Lukasz Kedzierski	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Antibodies preventing HTLV-1c infection	Professor Damian Purcell	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Application of systems genomics to analysing the dynamics of Streptococcus pyogenes infection	Dr Mark Davies	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
Are there additional MAIT cell antigens?	Dr Sidonia Eckle	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Blocking the development of secondary bacterial pneumonia	Dr Linda Wakim	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Can resident memory B cells in the lung protect against respiratory syncytial virus?	Professor Stephen Kent	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research
CCVs: Clathrin-coated vesicles and Coxiella containing vacuoles	Dr Hayley Newton	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
Characterisation of antimicrobial resistance and virulence of novel staphylococcal lineages	Associate Professor Steven Tong	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
Clinical metagenomics for rapid diagnosis of drug resistant tuberculosis	Dr Sarah Dunstan	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students
Cow antibodies that give the finger to HIV transmission	Professor Damian Purcell	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Defining the association between virulence and fitness of seasonal influenza viruses	Professor Kanta Subbarao	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students
Defining the impact of recurrent adaptive mutations on staphylococcal antimicrobial resistance and pathogenesis	Professor Ben Howden	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Determining the role of diet and microbiota in the progression of lupus	Professor Fabienne Mackay	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Development of novel proteomic tools to explore Burkholderia pathogenesis	Dr Nichollas Scott	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of medically relevant prion diseases	Associate Professor Vicki Lawson	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
Evolution of streptococcal pathovars	Dr Mark Davies	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
Evolutionary Genetics of avian influenza A viruses in Australia	Dr Michelle Wille	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Honours students
Gamma delta T cells are important for malaria sporozoite vaccination	Dr Lynette Beattie	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Harnessing the molecular clock to activate diverse strains of latent HIV	Professor Sharon Lewin	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Honours students
How do tumours impact normal tissue functions?	Associate Professor Scott Mueller	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
How does ageing effect antibody responses?	Dr Amy Chung	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
How infection and trauma cause dendritic cell paralysis and lethal immunosuppression	Professor Jose Villadangos	Microbiology and Immunology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
How is selective metal ion transport achieved at the host-pathogen interface?	Associate Professor Christopher McDevitt	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
How to harness the immune system to cure cancer: adoptive cell immunotherapy	Professor Jose Villadangos	Microbiology and Immunology	Cancer in Biomedicine	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Identification and characterisation of novel malarial transmission-blocking antigens	Associate Professor Siddhartha Mahanty	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
Identifying novel subsets of immune cells that control cytomegalovirus following transplantation	Dr Lucy Sullivan	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Illuminating microbial “dark matter” for antibiotic discovery	Dr Sacha Pidot	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Immuno-paralysis following severe infections or trauma	Professor Jose Villadangos	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Immunoregulatory functions of the MARCH family of ubiquitin ligases	Professor Jose Villadangos	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Impact of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention on drug resistance biomarkers and antigenic diversity	Professor Karen Day	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Honours students
Infection induced changes to splenic macrophages	Dr Lynette Beattie	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Integrative infectious disease phylodynamics	Dr Sebastian Duchene	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students
Interrogating B cell immunity to influenza vaccines	Professor Stephen Kent	Microbiology and Immunology		PhD students, Masters by Research
Investigating novel chromatin proteins of the malaria parasite P. falciparum as drug targets.	Dr Michael Duffy	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Investigating the effect of hepatitis B virus splice variants in liver cells and disease progression	Professor Peter Revill	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Honours students
Investigating the role of functional antibodies against Mycobacterium tuberculosis	Dr Amy Chung	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research
Location, location, location – lodging virus specific T cells in the lung as an approach to protecting against influenza virus infection	Dr Linda Wakim	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research
Manipulating MAIT cells for increased protection by vaccination and therapy	Dr Alexandra Corbett	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Mapping elemental fluxes during host-pathogen interaction	Associate Professor Christopher McDevitt	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
Metal ion homeostasis in Klebsiella pneumoniae	Associate Professor Christopher McDevitt	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
Mitochondria and intracellular bacterial pathogens	Dr Hayley Newton	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Molecular basis for growth factor surveillance in natural killer cells	Dr Alexander David Barrow	Microbiology and Immunology		PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Molecular basis for growth factor surveillance in plasmacytoid dendritic cells	Dr Alexander David Barrow	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
MR1 – a molecular alarm system for bacterial infection	Dr Hamish McWilliam	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
MR1 – a molecular alarm system that detects pathogen metabolites	Professor Jose Villadangos	Microbiology and Immunology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Neural regulation of anti-cancer immunity	Associate Professor Scott Mueller	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Neurodegeneration in the enteric nervous system	Associate Professor Vicki Lawson	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
New antibiotics from old bacteria	Dr Sacha Pidot	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Novel master-regulators of B-cell biology	Professor Fabienne Mackay	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
Pathogenesis of HTLV-1 subtype-C infecting remote indigenous Australians	Professor Damian Purcell	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Pathogenesis of pneumococcal pneumonia	Associate Professor Catherine Satzke	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
Population genomics of endemic Streptococcus pyogenes	Dr Mark Davies	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Preventing infections of the highly puke-ogenic virus - norovirus	Professor Jason Mackenzie	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Programming gamma delta T cells for HIV immunotherapy	Professor Stephen Kent	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
Protective capacity of malaria-specific liver-tissue-resident memory T cells	Dr Lauren Holz	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Quantifying bacterial recombination within globally evolving streptococcal pathogens	Dr Mark Davies	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
Quorum sensing in malaria	Professor Karen Day	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Honours students
Regeneration of lymphoid tissues	Associate Professor Scot Mueller	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
RNA control of HIV latency	Professor Damian Purcell	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Master of Biomedical Science
Role of O-linked glycosylation system across the Burkholderia genus	Dr Nichollas Scott	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Role of suppressor of cytokine signalling proteins in viral encephalitis	Dr Lukasz Kedzierski	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
SNAP - Staphylococcus aureus Network Adaptive Platform Trial	Associate Professor Steven Tong	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections in Victorian hospitals: regional differences in disease burden and epidemiology	Associate Professor Leon Worth	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
Streptococcal transmission and disease	Associate Professor Catherine Satzke	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Synergistic and antagonistic interplay between Streptococcus pneumoniae and respiratory viruses	Associate Professor Catherine Satzke	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Testing a novel strategy to target chronic lymphocytic leukemia	Professor Fabienne Mackay	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
The importance of IgA in the protection and control of infectious diseases	Dr Amy Chung	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research
The role of co-pathologies in the clinical presentation of prion disease	Associate Professor Vicki Lawson	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
The role of glucose metabolism in the regulation of immunity	Professor Jose Villadangos	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
The role of the prion protein in brain cancer	Associate Professor Vicki Lawson	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
The space of evolutionary trees in infectious disease epidemiology	Dr Sebastian Duchene	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
Understanding essential gene regulation in Staphylococcus aureus	Professor Tim Stinear	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Understanding the biological chemistry of pneumococcal disease	Associate Professor Christopher McDevitt	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
Understanding the immune microenvironment in brain tumours	Dr Theo Mantamadiotis	Microbiology and Immunology	Cancer in Biomedicine,Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Understanding the importance of variation in the capsular polysaccharide of Streptococcus pneumoniae	Associate Professor Catherine Satzke	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Masters by Research, Honours students
Understanding the mechanisms that impair anti-tumour adoptive cell therapy	Professor Jose Villadangos	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Understanding the role of MAIT cells in immune-mediated pathology	Dr Sidonia Eckle	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Understanding the role of MAIT cells in protection from microbial infections	Dr Sidonia Eckle	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Unravelling the drivers of scarlet fever pandemics	Dr Mark Davies	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Honours students
Using genomics to investigate the transmission of skin pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in a ‘One Health’ setting	Dr Mark Davies	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Using genomics to track transmission of Chlamydia trachomatis	Dr Hayley Newton	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Honours students
Using transcriptional analyses to understand recognition of tumours by natural killer cells	Professor Andrew Brooks	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Validating human transgenic mouse models for lupus therapeutics development	Professor Fabienne Mackay	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
Vertical transmission of Ross River virus in mosquito vectors	Dr Julio Rodriguez-Andres	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students
What do antibodies need to do to protect a woman against pregnancy-malaria?	Dr Elizabeth Aitken	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	Honours students
Whole body analysis of human tissue-resident memory T cells	Dr Claire Gordon	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students
Why is the flavivirus RdRp in the nucleus?	Professor Jason Mackenzie	Microbiology and Immunology	Infection and Immunity	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students

Pharmacology and Therapeutics

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Projects	Primary Supervisor	Department	Research Themes	Research Opportunity
Development and application of soft culturing microenvironment for novel drug discovery	Professor Alastair Stewart	Pharmacology and Therapeutics		Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Glucocorticoid responsiveness in the lung: impact of inflammation and infection	Professor Alastair Stewart	Pharmacology and Therapeutics		Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Manipulating the endocannabinoid system to alter cardiovascular function in hypertension	Dr Makhala Khammy	Pharmacology and Therapeutics	Cardio-Respiratory	PhD students, Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
“Clock-off time” for inflammation and remodelling in chronic inflammatory diseases: casein kinase inhibitors	Professor Alastair Stewart	Pharmacology and Therapeutics	Molecular Mechanisms of Disease	Masters by Research, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science

Biomedical Sciences Projects by Department

Biomedical Sciences Projects by Department

Anatomy and Neuroscience

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Microbiology and Immunology

Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Physiology

Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences