Sam Henderson

Sam Henderson

School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology


Sam is a researcher with expertise in plant science, cell membrane biology, and ion channels. His first postdoctoral position was undertaken at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, investigating salinity tolerance in crop plants. He carried out further postdoctoral work at CSIRO, investigating the molecular basis of apomixis in plants. In 2019, he joined Andrea Yool’s team in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, to study the fundamental roles of human aquaporins.

Aquaporins (AQPs) are channels that conduct water and small solutes across cell membranes. Our laboratory aims to understand the physiological role of water and ion conductivity of human AQPs in health and disease.

We use a range of techniques including:

• Recombinant protein production and purification
• Patch-clamp electrophysiology
• Two-electrode voltage clamp (TEVC) electrophysiology
• Cell swelling assays
• Cell culture
• Microbiology
• Advanced microscopy

  • Appointments

    Date Position Institution name
    2019 - ongoing Postdoctoral Research Fellow University of Adelaide
    2018 - 2019 Postdoctoral Scientist Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
    2014 - 2017 Postdoctoral Research Associate University of Adelaide
    2007 - 2010 Research Officer University of Adelaide
    2006 - 2007 Technical Officer Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, University of Adelaide
  • Education

    Date Institution name Country Title
    2014 University of Adelaide Australia PhD
    2005 Flinders University Australia Bachelor of Biotechnology (Hons)
  • Research Interests

Date Grant Title Investigators Funding Body
2020 - 2021

Replacing frog oocytes and animal antibodies in aquaporin research: Developing an animal-free analysis platform to assess human Aquaporin-1 channels involved in cancer cell migration.

Henderson, SW; Yool AJ; Martinac B  The Medical Advances Without Animals (MAWA) Trust
  • Memberships

    Date Role Membership Country
    2010 - ongoing - Australian Society for Plant Scientists (ASPS) Australia

Connect With Me
External Profiles