Dr Tatiana Soares da Costa
Group Leader and Future Making Fellow
Waite Research Institute
Division of Research and Innovation
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD, but is currently at capacity - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Resistance to current antibiotics and herbicides represents a major threat to global health and food security. Despite a continuous rise in resistance worldwide, there has been a lack of antibiotics or herbicides with a new mode of action introduced to the market for the past 30 years.
The overall focus of the Soares da Costa laboratory is to define the structure, function and regulation of essential proteins in bacteria and plants to guide the development of new classes of antibiotics and herbicides. Specifically, we aim to target multiple proteins simultaneously in essential biosynthetic pathways. Combining such multivalent inhibitors as an antibiotic or herbicide ‘cocktail’ provides a novel strategy for reducing the downstream development of resistance and has the potential to improve efficacy through synergism.
Dr Tatiana Soares da Costa is a Future Making Fellow and the Head of the Herbicide and Antibiotic Innovation Lab at The University of Adelaide's Waite campus. Tatiana is passionate about science communication and promoting scientific research to the media, policymakers and the general community, culminating in being named a finalist in the 2023 SA Women of the Year Awards, one of the Superstars of STEM for 2023-2024 by Science & Technology Australia and the 2022 SA Young Tall Poppy Scientist of the Year. Tatiana currently serves as a Director at Science & Technology Australia, Editor of the Australian Biochemist and the Chair of Communications of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Tatiana was recently interviewed by ABC Rural for SA Country Hour - have a listen at the interview here.
For more information on Tatiana's research or to get in contact with her, have a look at her profiles on LinkedIn or Research Gate. You can follow Tatiana on Twitter @Tatiana_Biochem.
We are recruiting Honours, Masters and PhD students to work on various projects spanning biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology and plant biology. Please contact Tatiana directly with an expression of interest (tatiana.soaresdacosta@adelaide.edu.au).
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2022 - ongoing Group Leader and Future Making Fellow University of Adelaide 2019 - 2022 Group Leader and ARC DECRA Fellow La Trobe University 2015 - 2019 NHMRC Early Career Peter Doherty Fellow La Trobe University 2013 - 2015 Teaching Only Lecturer Charles Sturt University -
Language Competencies
Language Competency Portuguese Can read, write, speak and understand spoken -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2010 - 2013 The University of Adelaide Australia PhD 2006 - 2008 University of Canterbury New Zealand Master of Science (First Class Honours) 2003 - 2005 University of Canterbury New Zealand Bachelor of Science
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Journals
Year Citation 2023 Javorsky, A., Maddumage, J. C., Mackie, E. R. R., Soares da Costa, T. P., Humbert, P. O., & Kvansakul, M. (2023). Structural insight into the Scribble PDZ domains interaction with the oncogenic Human T-cell lymphotrophic virus-1 (HTLV-1) Tax1 PBM. The FEBS journal, 290(4), 974-987.
Scopus4 Europe PMC32023 Vujcic, B., Wyllie, J., Tania., Burns, J., White, K. F., Cromwell, S., . . . Houston, S. D. (2023). Cage Hydrocarbons as Linkers in Dimeric Drug Design: Case Studies with Trimethoprim and Tedizolid. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 80, 129086-1-129086-5.
2023 Ottonello, A., Wyllie, J. A., Yahiaoui, O., Sun, S., Koelln, R. A., Homer, J. A., . . . Moses, J. E. (2023). Shapeshifting bullvalene-linked vancomycin dimers as effective antibiotics against multidrug-resistant gram-positive bacteria. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(15), e2208737120.
2023 Mackie, E. R. R., Barrow, A. S., Giel, M. -C., Hulett, M. D., Gendall, A. R., Panjikar, S., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2023). Repurposed inhibitor of bacterial dihydrodipicolinate reductase exhibits effective herbicidal activity.. Communications biology, 6(1), 550.
2022 Soares da Costa, T., Wyllie, J., Ghardi, C., Hulett, M., Abbott, B., Sutton, M., & Perugini, M. (2022). The First Inhibitor of <i>Meso</i>-Diaminopimelate Biosynthesis with Antibacterial Activity Against Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria.
2022 Mackie, E. R. R., Barrow, A. S., Christoff, R. M., Abbott, B. M., Gendall, A. R., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2022). A dual-target herbicidal inhibitor of lysine biosynthesis. eLife, 11, 1-11.
Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC22022 Wyllie, J. A., McKay, M. V., Barrow, A. S., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2022). Biosynthesis of uridine diphosphate N-Acetylglucosamine: An underexploited pathway in the search for novel antibiotics?. IUBMB life, 71(12), 1232-1252.
Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC32022 Mather, J. C., Wyllie, J. A., Hamilton, A., Soares da Costa, T. P., & Barnard, P. J. (2022). Antibacterial silver and gold complexes of imidazole and 1,2,4-triazole derived N-heterocyclic carbenes. Dalton Transactions, 51(32), 12056-12070.
Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC12022 Teakel, S., Marama, M., Aragao, D., Tsimbalyuk, S., Mackie, E. R. R., da Costa, T. P. S., . . . Cahill, M. A. (2022). Structural characterisation of a MAPR-related archaeal cytochrome b(5M) protein. FEBS Letters, 596(18), 2409-2417.
Scopus1 WoS12021 Christoff, R. M., Soares da Costa, T. P., Bayat, S., Holien, J. K., Perugini, M. A., & Abbott, B. M. (2021). Synthesis and structure-activity relationship studies of 2,4-thiazolidinediones and analogous heterocycles as inhibitors of dihydrodipicolinate synthase. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 52, 116518-1-116518-9.
Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC32021 Wines, B. D., Trist, H. M., Esparon, S., Impey, R. E., Mackay, G. A., Andrews, R. K., . . . Hogarth, P. M. (2021). Fc Binding by FcγRIIa Is Essential for Cellular Activation by the Anti-FcγRIIa mAbs 8.26 and 8.2. Frontiers in Immunology, 12, 666813-1-666813-13.
2021 Nonis, S. G., Haywood, J., Schmidberger, J. W., Mackie, E. R. R., Soares da Costa, T. P., Bond, C. S., & Mylne, J. S. (2021). Structural and biochemical analyses of concanavalin A circular permutation by jack bean asparaginyl endopeptidase. Plant Cell, 33(8), 2794-2811.
Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC62021 Soares da Costa, T. P., Hall, C. J., Panjikar, S., Wyllie, J. A., Christoff, R. M., Bayat, S., . . . Perugini, M. A. (2021). Towards novel herbicide modes of action by inhibiting lysine biosynthesis in plants. eLife, 10, 1-17.
Scopus8 WoS7 Europe PMC42021 Hall, C. J., Lee, M., Boarder, M. P., Mangion, A. M., Gendall, A. R., Panjikar, S., . . . Soares da Costa, T. P. (2021). Differential lysine-mediated allosteric regulation of plant dihydrodipicolinate synthase isoforms. FEBS Journal, 288(16), 4973-4986.
Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC32020 Li, Z., MacKie, E. R. R., Ramkissoon, P., Mather, J. C., Wiratpruk, N., Soares Da Costa, T. P., & Barnard, P. J. (2020). Synthesis, conformational analysis and antibacterial activity of Au(I)-Ag(I) and Au(I)-Hg(II) heterobimetallic N-heterocyclic carbene complexes. Dalton Transactions, 49(36), 12820-12834.
Scopus5 WoS42020 Impey, R. E., Hawkins, D. A., Sutton, J. M., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2020). Overcoming intrinsic and acquired resistance mechanisms associated with the cell wall of gram-negative bacteria. Antibiotics, 9(9), 1-19.
Scopus24 WoS23 Europe PMC132020 Suraweera, C. D., Anasir, M. I., Chugh, S., Javorsky, A., Impey, R. E., Hasan Zadeh, M., . . . Kvansakul, M. (2020). Structural insight into tanapoxvirus-mediated inhibition of apoptosis. FEBS Journal, 287(17), 3733-3750.
Scopus8 WoS8 Europe PMC72020 Impey, R. E., Lee, M., Hawkins, D. A., Sutton, J. M., Panjikar, S., Perugini, M. A., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2020). Mis-annotations of a promising antibiotic target in high-priority gram-negative pathogens. FEBS Letters, 594(9), 1453-1463.
Scopus4 WoS3 Europe PMC22020 Young, N. D., Harris, T. J., Evangelista, M., Tran, S., Wouters, M. A., Soares da Costa, T. P., . . . Fairlie, W. D. (2020). Diversity in the intrinsic apoptosis pathway of nematodes. Communications Biology, 3(1), 478-1-478-12.
Scopus2 WoS3 Europe PMC12020 Bleackley, M. R., Vasa, S., Harvey, P. J., Shafee, T. M. A., Kerenga, B. K., Soares da Costa, T. P., . . . Anderson, M. A. (2020). Histidine-rich defensins from the solanaceae and brasicaceae are antifungal and metal binding proteins. Journal of Fungi, 6(3), 1-14.
Scopus4 WoS3 Europe PMC22020 Hall, C. J., Mackie, E. R. R., Gendall, A. R., Perugini, M. A., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2020). Review: amino acid biosynthesis as a target for herbicide development. Pest Management Science, 76(12), 3896-3904.
Scopus12 WoS11 Europe PMC62020 Giel, M. C., Smedley, C. J., Mackie, E. R. R., Guo, T., Dong, J., Soares da Costa, T. P., & Moses, J. E. (2020). Metal-Free Synthesis of Functional 1-Substituted-1,2,3-Triazoles from Ethenesulfonyl Fluoride and Organic Azides. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 59(3), 1181-1186.
Scopus50 WoS46 Europe PMC52020 Impey, R. E., Panjikar, S., Hall, C. J., Bock, L. J., Sutton, J. M., Perugini, M. A., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2020). Identification of two dihydrodipicolinate synthase isoforms from Pseudomonas aeruginosa that differ in allosteric regulation. The Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) Journal, 287(2), 386-400.
Scopus9 WoS8 Europe PMC52020 Suraweera, C. D., Anasir, M. I., Chugh, S., Javorsky, A., Impey, R. E., Zadeh, M. H., . . . Kvansakul, M. (2020). Structural insight into tanapoxvirus mediated inhibition of apoptosis.
2019 Gilson, P. R., Kumarasingha, R., Thompson, J., Zhang, X., Penington, J. S., Kalhor, R., . . . Abbott, B. M. (2019). A 4-cyano-3-methylisoquinoline inhibitor of Plasmodium falciparum growth targets the sodium efflux pump PfATP4. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1-15.
Scopus13 WoS13 Europe PMC82019 Lee, E. F., Smith, N. A., Soares da Costa, T. P., Meftahi, N., Yao, S., Harris, T. J., . . . Fairlie, W. D. (2019). Structural insights into BCL2 pro-survival protein interactions with the key autophagy regulator BECN1 following phosphorylation by STK4/MST1. Autophagy, 15(5), 785-795.
Scopus30 WoS27 Europe PMC212019 Christoff, R. M., Gardhi, C. K., Soares Da Costa, T. P., Perugini, M. A., & Abbott, B. M. (2019). Pursuing DHDPS: An enzyme of unrealised potential as a novel antibacterial target. MedChemComm, 10(9), 1581-1588.
Scopus6 WoS62018 Gupta, R., Hogan, C. J., Perugini, M. A., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2018). Characterization of recombinant dihydrodipicolinate synthase from the bread wheat Triticum aestivum. Planta, 248(2), 381-391.
Scopus3 WoS32018 Soares da Costa, T. P., Abbott, B. M., Gendall, A. R., Panjikar, S., & Perugini, M. A. (2018). Molecular evolution of an oligomeric biocatalyst functioning in lysine biosynthesis. Biophysical Reviews, 10(2), 153-162.
Scopus14 Europe PMC42018 North, R. A., Wahlgren, W. Y., Remus, D. M., Scalise, M., Kessans, S. A., Dunevall, E., . . . Dobson, R. C. J. (2018). The Sodium Sialic Acid Symporter From Staphylococcus aureus Has Altered Substrate Specificity. Frontiers in Chemistry, 6, 233-1-233-11.
Europe PMC92018 Smith, K. M., Tsimbalyuk, S., Edwards, M. R., Cross, E. M., Batra, J., Soares da Costa, T. P., . . . Forwood, J. K. (2018). Structural basis for importin alpha 3 specificity of W proteins in Hendra and Nipah viruses. Nature Communications, 9(1), 1-13.
Scopus41 WoS40 Europe PMC282018 Stifter, S. A., Matthews, A. Y., Mangan, N. E., Fung, K. Y., Drew, A., Tate, M. D., . . . Hertzog, P. J. (2018). Defining the distinct, intrinsic properties of the novel type i interferon, IFNϵ. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 293(9), 3168-3179.
Scopus21 WoS21 Europe PMC132018 Gupta, R., Soares da Costa, T. P., Faou, P., Dogovski, C., & Perugini, M. A. (2018). Comparison of untagged and his-tagged dihydrodipicolinate synthase from the enteric pathogen Vibrio cholerae. Protein Expression and Purification, 145, 85-93.
Scopus10 WoS10 Europe PMC52018 Hall, C. J., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2018). Lysine: biosynthesis, catabolism and roles. WikiJournal of Science, 1(1).
Scopus52017 Ellisdon, A. M., Nold-Petry, C. A., D’Andrea, L., Cho, S. X., Lao, J. C., Rudloff, I., . . . Nold, M. F. (2017). Homodimerization attenuates the anti-inflammatory activity of interleukin-37. Science Immunology, 2(8), 1-12.
Scopus40 WoS39 Europe PMC232017 Soares da Costa, T. P., Patel, M., Desbois, S., Gupta, R., Faou, P., & Perugini, M. A. (2017). Identification of a dimeric KDG aldolase from Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Proteins: Structure, Function and Bioinformatics, 85(11), 2058-2065.
Scopus6 WoS5 Europe PMC22017 Soares Da Costa, T. P., Nanson, J. D., & Forwood, J. K. (2017). Structural characterisation of the fatty acid biosynthesis enzyme FabF from the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1-9.
Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC12016 Miles, N. G., & Soares da Costa, T. P. (2016). Acceptance of clickers in a large multimodal biochemistry class as determined by student evaluations of teaching: Are they just an annoying distraction for distance students?. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 44(1), 99-108.
Scopus7 WoS5 Europe PMC22016 Christensen, J. B., Soares Da Costa, T. P., Faou, P., Pearce, F. G., Panjikar, S., & Perugini, M. A. (2016). Structure and Function of Cyanobacterial DHDPS and DHDPR. Scientific Reports, 6(1), 12 pages.
Scopus19 WoS16 Europe PMC112016 Peverelli, M. G., Soares da Costa, T., Kirby, N., & Perugini, M. A. (2016). Dimerization of bacterial diaminopimelate decarboxylase is essential for catalysis. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 291(18), 9785-9795.
Scopus27 WoS25 Europe PMC132016 da Costa, T. P. S. (2016). Conference survival guide-the dos and don'ts. CELL DEATH DISCOVERY, 2(1), 3 pages.
Europe PMC12016 Soares da Costa, T. P., Desbois, S., Dogovski, C., Gorman, M. A., Ketaren, N. E., Paxman, J. J., . . . Perugini, M. A. (2016). Structural Determinants Defining the Allosteric Inhibition of an Essential Antibiotic Target. Structure, 24(8), 1282-1291.
Scopus26 WoS23 Europe PMC142016 Soares da Costa, T. P. (2016). Supervisor types: which one is your match?. Cell Death Discovery, 2(1), 2 pages.
Scopus22015 Tieu, W., Polyak, S., Paparella, A., Yap, M., Soares Da Costa, T., Ng, B., . . . Abell, A. (2015). Improved synthesis of biotinol-5'-AMP: implications for antibacterial discovery. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 6(2), 216-220.
Scopus16 WoS16 Europe PMC72014 Tieu, W., Jarrad, A. M., Paparella, A. S., Keeling, K. A., Soares da Costa, T. P., Wallace, J. C., . . . Abell, A. D. (2014). Heterocyclic acyl-phosphate bioisostere-based inhibitors of Staphylococcus aureus biotin protein ligase. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 24(19), 4689-4693.
Scopus18 WoS17 Europe PMC72014 Paparella, A., Soares Da Costa, T., Yap, M., Tieu, W., Wilce, M., Booker, G., . . . Polyak, S. (2014). Structure guided design of biotin protein ligase inhibitors for antibiotic discovery. Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, 14(1), 4-20.
Scopus25 WoS25 Europe PMC132014 Soares da Costa, T., Yap, M., Perugini, M., Wallace, J., Abell, A., Wilce, M., . . . Booker, G. (2014). Dual roles of F123 in protein homodimerization and inhibitor binding to biotin protein ligase from Staphylococcus aureus. Molecular Microbiology, 91(1), 110-120.
Scopus18 WoS16 Europe PMC92013 Tieu, W., Soares da Costa, T., Yap, M., Keeling, K., Wilce, M., Wallace, J., . . . Abell, A. (2013). Optimising in situ click chemistry: the screening and identification of biotin protein ligase inhibitors. Chemical Science, 4(9), 3533-3537.
Scopus33 WoS332012 Soares da Costa, T., Tieu, W., Yap, M., Zvarec, O., Bell, J., Turnidge, J., . . . Polyak, S. (2012). Biotin analogues with antibacterial activity are potent inhibitors of biotin protein ligase. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 3(6), 509-514.
Scopus37 WoS36 Europe PMC182012 Soares da Costa, T., Tieu, W., Yap, M., Pendini, N., Polyak, S., Pedersen, D., . . . Abell, A. (2012). Selective inhibition of biotin protein ligase from Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 287(21), 17823-17832.
Scopus50 WoS42 Europe PMC282012 Mayende, L., Swift, R., Bailey, L., Soares da Costa, T., Wallace, J., Booker, G., & Polyak, S. (2012). A novel molecular mechanism to explain biotin-unresponsive holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency. Journal of Molecular Medicine-JMM, 90(1), 81-88.
Scopus25 WoS23 Europe PMC152010 Soares da Costa, T. P., Muscroft-Taylor, A. C., Dobson, R. C. J., Devenish, S. R. A., Jameson, G. B., & Gerrard, J. A. (2010). How essential is the 'essential' active-site lysine in dihydrodipicolinate synthase?. Biochimie, 92(7), 837-845.
Scopus31 WoS29 Europe PMC142010 Muscroft-Taylor, A. C., Soares da Costa, T. P., & Gerrard, J. A. (2010). New insights into the mechanism of dihydrodipicolinate synthase using isothermal titration calorimetry. Biochimie, 92(3), 254-262.
Scopus23 WoS19 Europe PMC9 -
Book Chapters
Year Citation 2020 Gaskin, S. M., Soares Da Costa, T. P., & Hulett, M. D. (2020). Heparanase: Cloning, Function and Regulation. In Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology (Vol. 1221, pp. 189-229). Springer International Publishing.
Scopus7 WoS7 Europe PMC32015 Soares Da Costa, T. P., Christensen, J. B., Desbois, S., Gordon, S. E., Gupta, R., Hogan, C. J., . . . Perugini, M. A. (2015). Quaternary Structure Analyses of an Essential Oligomeric Enzyme. In J. L. Cole (Ed.), Methods in Enzymology (Vol. 562, pp. 205-223). ELSEVIER ACADEMIC PRESS INC.
Scopus18 WoS15 Europe PMC9
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Year |
Funding |
Role |
Amount |
|
2022–2025 |
ARC Discovery Project (DP220101901): Re-purposing shelved ‘antibiotics’ in the search for new herbicides | Lead CI |
$446,368 |
| 2022–2025 | Hermon Slade Foundation: Towards novel diagnostic tools to monitor and combat herbicide resistance | Lead CI | $77,842 |
| 2022–2024 | South Australian Potato Industry Trust Fund: New herbicides for effective weed control in potato cropping systems | Sole CI | $85,477 |
| 2022–2024 | Australian Academy of Science Thomas Davies Research Grant for Marine, Soil and Plant Biology: Using supercomputers in the search for herbicides that inhibit amino acid production in plants | Sole CI | $19,960 |
| 2022–2023 | Yitpi Foundation Grant: Herbicides with new active ingredients for effective wheat protection | Sole CI | $14,500 |
| 2019–2022 |
ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE190100806): Towards herbicide cocktails with a new mode of action to avert resistance |
Sole CI | $419,854 |
|
2019–2022 |
Australian Academy of Science JG Russell Award (to support the ARC DECRA) |
Sole CI |
$6,000 |
| 2020–2022 | Defence Science Institute Research Higher Degree Stipend (to fund an HDR student): Combating the resistance crisis: Towards new antibiotic and herbicide targets | Sole CI | $15,000 |
|
2020–2022 |
Defence Science Institute Research Higher Degree Scholarship (to fund an HDR student): Fighting superbugs with novel drugs to tackle resistance |
Sole CI |
$15,000 |
| 2019–2022 | Grains Research and Development Corporation Research Higher Degree Scholarship (to fund an HDR student): Development of herbicide cocktails with a novel mode of action for circumventing resistance mechanisms | Sole CI | $107,091 |
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2015–2019 |
NHMRC Early Career Fellowship: Broad spectrum inhibition of an enzyme antibiotic target |
Sole CI |
$309,436 |
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Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2023 Principal Supervisor Unlocking the Value of Lysine for Sustainable Agriculture Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Mirrin McKay 2023 Principal Supervisor Re-purposing shelved antibiotics in search for new herbicides Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Abhay Chopra 2022 Principal Supervisor Identifying Novel Therapeutics to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Jessica Anne Wyllie 2022 Principal Supervisor Developing novel strategies to monitor and combat herbicide resistance Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Sreshtha Malik 2022 Principal Supervisor Validating Novel Antibiotic and Herbicide Targets to Circumvent Resistance Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Daniel Adam Hawkins 2022 Principal Supervisor A novel repurposing approach for herbicide discovery to combat resistant weeds Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Ryan James Francis McClean -
Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2022 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Strategies to Circumvent Herbicide Resistance Through the Inhibition of Lysine Biosynthesis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Emily Rose Ronayne Mackie
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Board Memberships
Date Role Board name Institution name Country 2020 - ongoing Board Member Board of Directors Science & Technology Australia Australia 2019 - ongoing Member Executive Committee Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Australia -
Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2021 - ongoing Member Chair of Communications International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Australia -
Editorial Boards
Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country 2016 - ongoing Editor Editor Australian Biochemist Magazine Australia
Connect With Me
External Profiles
