Our research group is interested in the role of the commensal microflora in health and disease of humans, animals, and the environment.  We use a combination of culture-based and nucleic acid-based techniques to study the microflora composition, and to identify and track individual members.

Our group is focused on developing the use of "stealth" liposomes as novel vaccines and as drug delivery vehicles. Utilising patented technology we recently showed that antigen-containing liposomes can be targeted directly to dendritic cells in vivo, providing a powerful means of manipulating immune function. Based on this approach a novel cancer vaccine/immunotherapy is currently being developed for testing in clinical trials. Our research aims now are to see if this technology also can be employed to target DNA and siRNAs to specific cell types in vivo, to facilitate the use of nucleic acids as vaccines and as therapeutics for the treatment of diseases such as cancer.

Nematodes (roundworms) are thought to comprise the animal phylum with the largest number of species in the world.  Free-living nematodes have critical roles in most ecosystems.  Parasitic nematodes are very common - they infect more than half the world’s population.  Our group studies the functional biology of nematodes using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans and the techniques of functional genomics.  We are currently investigating new drug targets for nematodes parasitic in humans and animals, odorant detection and responses to bacterial quorum-sensing molecules, and control methods for plant-parasitic nematodes.

Proteins form a significant part of our nutrition. After being digested in the intestine, the resulting amino acids are absorbed and delivered to the liver and other organs for protein biosynthesis and metabolic purposes. We are investigating the role of amino acid transporters in kidney and intestinal physiology and in brain metabolism. Several disorders are associated with the malfunction of amino acid transporters. We are studying mutations underlying Hartnup disorder, Iminoglycinuria and Dicarboxylic amino aciduria.

Our group's research activity centres on analysing a concept we initiated, the cytokine, or "cytokine storm", concept of the illness and disease caused by infectious agents. By this is meant that we become sick in infectious disease largely because our body's cells unintentionally generate an excess of pro-inflammatory cytokines, proteins intended to mediate the innate immune response against infectious organisms. We concentrate our efforts on malaria and influenza.

Our group is working on novel genes involved in the immune response.
A major recent focus of our lab has been a mutant mouse "nessy" which has defective T cell development.  We have traced the mutation to a gene involved in chromosome structure.  The interests of the lab include: Immunology, thymocyte development and epigenetics.

We are interested in how transporters function with the aim of understanding their molecular mechanisms. We are using heterologous expression systems to characterize transporters and mutant variants that have been generated by site-directed mutagenesis or random methods. This allows us to test hypotheses about which regions of the transporter are important for function. Our current focus is on sulphate transporters and ammonium transporters from plants, both of which play important roles in nutrient uptake. We also collaborate with the Kirk lab in optimizing heterologous expression of transporters from the malaria parasite so that these can be characterized and their functions better understood.

The major focus of our research group is on the physiology and biochemistry of the malaria parasite. We use a combination of biochemical, molecular and bioinformatic methods to study the mechanisms by which the parasite acquires nutrients from its host, regulates its ionic and biochemical composition (metabolome), and expels potentially harmful metabolic wastes. We are also investigating the mechanisms underlying the uptake of, and resistance to, antimalarial drugs.

When blood supply to the brain is restricted by a embolus or thrombus a focal area of damage (infarct) rapidly develops in the regions where there is no blood supply. However, over the following hours and days the infarct often grows, probably because of the occurence of cortical spreading depressions (CSDs). These are periods of electrical silence due to single and repeated CSDs generated in corticial brain slices. The experiments principally involve a combination of e;ectrophysiology and fluoresent calcium imaging.

Our work on development of diagnostic and prognostic tests for hypoxic-ischaemic injury (HII) and stroke is based around proteomic and immunological techniques. We are using 2D in gel electrophoresis (2DIGE) followed by mass spectrometry to identify serum proteins whose expression is changed by HII or stroke. We have identified some key proteins for further exploration using immunoassays whose identity we cannot publish for commercial reasons. This animal work will be followed by studies of human blood, with collection of blood samples from babies already in progress.

Our group is interested in how bacteria in the soil interact with higher plants. Bacteria use very specific chemical signals to communicate with each other, and also to invade and colonise the inside of plants. Our research focuses on how plants detect bacterial signals that could alert them to their presence. In addition, we are tying to find out how symbiotic bacteria manage to manipulate plant development and if those mechanisms have evolved from interactions with other microbes.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a newly discovered class of small RNA molecules that play pivotal roles in plant developmental and physiological processes by controlling the activities of key regulatory genes. Using molecular genetic approaches the lab aims to gain a greater understanding of the breath of miRNA-mediated gene regulation, determining which genes they regulate and the underlying mechanisms they use. Additionally we aim to determine how miRNAs themselves are regulated, and together this information will not only increase our knowledge on how miRNAs control an organism’s form and function, but give us insight on how manipulation of miRNAs may introduce favourable traits in plants.

Research in this lab involves cells of the immune system : dendritic cells and T lymphocytes. We use tissue culture, FACS analysis, gene profiling and proteomics to define genes, cell surface receptors and growth factors important in the hematopoiesis of dendritic cells and T cells. An important emphasis is on hematopoietic stem cells and definition of the niche or microenvironment which supports stem cell commitment and differentiation. We are investigating how the niche environment in normal and infected animals determines dendritic cell development as tolerogenic or immunogenic. Our T cell work involves isolation and analysis of the cancer stem cells which give rise to T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The research program is an integral component of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, which is based at ANU, UWA and USyd. Our group’s research falls into two areas. First, the impact of drought and excess light on plant growth, development and photosynthetic capacity. We have novel mutants that improve drought tolerance and are studying the signaling pathways they modulate. The second focus of the group is studying the function and regulation of carotenoids in photoprotection and plant development. Antioxidants, such as carotenoids are required for plant development and are essential for photosynthesis. Furthermore, novel hormones are produced from carotenoids and we are investigating how they interact with auxin to regulate plant development.

Our group aims to identify and characterise physiological and biochemical pathways in the intraerythrocytic stage of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum which may be utilised as targets for antimalarial chemotherapy. We also work to identify inhibitors of these pathways which may serve as antimalarials.  Pathways under investigation include coenzyme A biosynthesis and pH regulation.

Our research is focused on understanding and manipulating CD8+ T cell responses to viruses and genetically engineered virus vaccines. CD8+ T cells are an important part of the immune system and a potent weapon for fighting infections. We study vaccinia virus as an example of a virus and a vaccine. Our aim is to discover underlying rules that determine how CD8+ T cells recognise this virus and target the infections it causes.