Alistair Standish

Dr Alistair Standish

Senior Lecturer

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Alistair is a Lecturer for the Masters of Biotechnology program within the School of Biological Sciences.

His research focuses on the pathogenesis of a range of important human pathogens, most notably Streptococcus pneumoniae and Shigella flexneri. In particular, this involves investigating the role that tyrosine phosphorylation plays in the virulence of these organisms.

Since my PhD, I have been interested by the way in which bacterial pathogens modulate their various essential functions in order to adapt their ever changing environmental conditions, whether this be the different niches in the body, or relevant environmental reservoirs. During my PhD, this work focused on the role of Two-component Signal Transduction systems, and how they regulate virulence in the major human pathogen, Streptococcus pneumoniae. I then became interested in how the pathogen regulates its capsule, the single most important virulence factor that the pneumococcus possesess. In particular, I focused on its regulation by a tyrosine phosphoregulatory system, CpsBCD.

This work  garnered my interest in the role that Post Translational Modifications (PTMs) play in the regulation of a range of critical virulence factors, not just in S. pneumoniae, but also in Shigella flexneri and Escherichia coli. In general, bacteria such as these have a limited number of proteins, but PTMs increase the structural and functional diversity of these. This gives bacteria yet another extra layer of control over a range critical bacteria activities related to virulence, gene regulation, and metabolism.

  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2016 - ongoing M. Biotech Lecturer University of Adelaide
    2010 - 2016 Senior Research Officer University of Adelaide
    2006 - 2010 Postdoctoral Fellow University of Pennsylvania

  • Education
    Date Institution name Country Title
    2015 University of Adelaide Australia Graduate Diploma in Education
    2006 University of Adelaide Australia PhD
    2002 University of Adelaide Australia B. Biotechnology (Hons)

  • Research Interests
    Infectious Diseases Medical Microbiology

Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation, Ahmad, Z, Morona R and Standish AJ, Investigation of a novel protein tyrosine phosphatase, $35,000 (2015-2016).

NHMRC Project Grant, Morona R and Standish AJ, Capsule Synthesis and Tyrosine Phosphorylation in Streptococcus pneumoniae, $567,767.85. (2013-2015).

Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation, Standish AJ, The search for novel inhibitors of capsule synthesis in Streptococcus pneumoniae $35,000 (2012).

 

Advanced Research Platforms Course Co-ordinator (Lectures, Tutorials)

Advanced Research Techniques Course Co-ordinator (Practicals, Workshops)

Research Project Part 1 and 2 Course Co-ordinator

Biotechnology in Practice (Tutorials)

Molecular Microbiology and Vaccines (Tutorials)

Infection and Immunity A (Lectures)

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2014 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Investigation of a Low Molecular Weight Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase in Streptococcus Pneumoniae Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Zuleeza Ahmad

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2019 - ongoing Principal Supervisor HNS in E. coli University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Xiaowei Wang
    2019 - ongoing Principal Supervisor Investigation of residues important for CpsD function University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Saurabh Pise
    2019 - ongoing Principal Supervisor OmpR regulation in Shigella Flexneri University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Wandi Wang
    2018 - ongoing Principal Supervisor Purification of HNS University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Jiang Shao
    2018 - ongoing Principal Supervisor OmpR in E. coli University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Weiyi Wang
    2018 - ongoing Principal Supervisor OmpR regulation in E. coli University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Md Shakhawat Hosen
    2018 - 2018 Principal Supervisor The Identification of Interacting Proteins with SPD1837 in Streptococcus pneumoniae University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Yan Zhou
    2018 - 2018 Principal Supervisor H-NS in E. coli University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Tabassumben Musa
    2018 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Optimization of PsaA expression, purification and His-tag cleavage in E.coli University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Yuqi Xiao
    2018 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Optimization of Purification of Tyrosine Phosphorylated proteins University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Abduljalil Alameer
    2017 - 2018 Principal Supervisor OmpR in Escherichia coli University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Emmanuel Asuncion
    2017 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Purification of Cps2CD and Cps4CD University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Tiffany Xin Ni Yee
    2017 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Investigation of the function of protein tyrosine phosphatase CpsB from Streptococcus pneumoniae University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Junkai Peng
    2017 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Regulation of the DNA binding properties of OmpR University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Jiahao Wei
    2017 - 2017 Principal Supervisor H-NS in Escherichia coli University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Lishen Wang
    2017 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Identification of environmental conditions and factors which regulate tyrosine phosphorylation in Escherichia coli University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master - Linghan Liu
    2016 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Tyrosine phosphorylation in Shigella Flexneri University of Adeliade Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master - Hazirah Hassan
    2016 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Recombineering in E. coli University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology Master Full Time Saleh Alquethamy
    2016 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Purification of Spa47 University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Guoyan Zheng
    2016 - 2016 Principal Supervisor Tyrosine phosphorlyation in Shigella Flexneri University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Md Shariful Islam
    2016 - 2016 Principal Supervisor Investigating Bacteriophage 186 University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Feras Afifi
    2016 - 2016 Principal Supervisor Investigating Phage 186 University of Adelaide Masters of Biotechnology (Biomedical Science) Master Full Time Yimeng Li
  • Position: Senior Lecturer
  • Phone: 83130723
  • Email: alistair.standish@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Molecular Life Sciences, floor G
  • Org Unit: Molecular and Biomedical Science
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