Events

We are very excited to announce this months SBB seminar speaker, Dr. Nick Ariotti. Nick is a group leader at the IMB and an expert in the emerging field of in situ cryogenic electron microscopy. We are very excited to have him present at the SBB seminar series this month.

Professor Alexandra (Sasha) Zhernakova, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, The Netherlands, will be presenting a special MBS Seminar entitled 'Host and environmental determinants of gut microbiome: lessons from Dutch population studies'. In this seminar she will be presenting the initial results of the gut microbiome and virome analysis, highlighting significant findings and their implications.

Prof Kathryn E Fairfull-Smith will be presenting 'Synthetic Strategies to Combat Bacterial Biofilms'. In this presentation, she will discuss two of their recent approaches to target bacterial biofilms: modification of oxazolidinones and the design and synthesis of LasR inhibitors.

The SCMB Chemistry Seminar Series welcomes Associate Professor Luke Hunter (UNSW), who will present 'On the hunt for an elusive telomerase inhibitor'.

Dr Stefan Oehlers (A*STAR Infectious Diseases) will be presenting 'Studying ageing-related susceptibility to mycobacterial infection with zebrafish embryos'. In this presentation he will be discussing the mechanisms by which loss of telomerase expression impairs immunity and his approach to dissecting the mechanism by which prior TB infection increases the risk of infection with superinfecting mycobacteria.

Dr Jeffrey Mak, IMB, will be presenting 'Bacterially-derived heterocyclic immunostimulants'. His talk will describe the discovery of 5-OP-RU, its rationally described synthesis via kinetic control, its vaccination and immunotherapeutic properties, as well as its systematic modification leading to the creation of stable analogues and chemical tools for studying MAIT cell biology.

The Infection and Immunity Theme welcomes everyone to attend the May seminar session, presentations by Sophie van Leur, Xiaohui Wang, and Hyoyoung (Lia) Kim.

The SCMB- Molecular Biosciences Seminar Series Welcomes Assistant Professor Leen Delang (KU Leuven) who will be presenting 'Antiviral strategies for mosquito-borne viruses: a ‘buzzing’ role for the mosquito vector?'

Dr Anne-Sophie Bergot (Frazer Institute) will be presenting 'The interplay of myeloid cells and autoreactive T lymphocytes activated by gut-derived bacteria in spondyloarthropathy'.

The SCMB Chemistry Seminar Series will next host Associate Professor Nicholas White from the Australian National University next Monday (13th May). His talk, "Using charge-assisted hydrogen bonds for supramolecular chemistry in water" will be held in the AIBN Lecture Room at 1 pm. Please do join us for another exciting seminar!

A/Prof Marina Fortes, SCMB, will be presenting "Lessons from the LESTR project: measuring cattle methane emissions under grazing conditions".

Prof Curt Wentrup, SCMB, will be presenting 'Glauber and Dippel. Alchemy, Gold-making, animal oil, and Prussian blue'.

Professor Keith Chappell, SCMB/AIBN, will be presenting 'Second Generation Molecular Clamp Platform for the Development of Subunit Vaccines for Viral Pathogens'.

A/Prof Tom Rufford, School of Chemical Engineering, will be presenting 'Fabricating stable, selective catalyst layers on gas diffusion electrodes for high current density CO2 electrolysis'. In this seminar, Tom will highlight their recent work on electrode fabrication to improve the efficiency and stability of gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) in CO2 electrolysers. The key examples he will share are studies on (1) wettability and flooding of electrolytes in the GDE and (2) optimizing the catalyst ink formation to prepare highly selective catalyst layers for C2+ production. He will conclude the presentation with a summary of research approaches in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformation of CO2 (GETCO2) to address some of the future challenges in CO2 electrolysis and related technologies.

Ruirui Qiao, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, will be presenting 'Polymer/inorganic Nanohybrids in Biomedical Applications: From Nanoparticle-Based Therapeutics to 3D-Printed Soft Robots'.

Dr Rosemary Cater (IMB) will be presenting "Structural and Mechanistic Insights into Nutrient Transport at the Blood Brain Barrier"

Structural Biology and Biochemistry (SBB) Theme welcomes everyone to attend the March seminar session, presentations by Dr Yoochan Myung and Dr Ariel Isaacs. The seminar is to be followed by morning tea at the secret garden (Building 76).

The first Infection and Immunity Theme Seminar will feature three speakers: Dr Michaela Blyton, Mikaela Bell, and James Potter.

Dr Mathew Jones, SCMB/Frazer Institute, will be presenting "Understanding cell cycle regulation and DNA replication with high content imaging and nanopore sequencing".

Ruirui Qiao, of AIBN, will be presenting 'Polymer/inorganic Nanohybrids in Biomedical Applications: From Nanoparticle-Based Therapeutics to 3D-Printed Soft Robots'.

Dr David Cantillo, of SCMB, will be presenting "lectrochemical Synthesis of an Axitinib Intermediate – A Pharma Case Study".

Structural Biology and Biochemistry (SBB) Theme Seminar's first seminar for the year will take place 29 February with Shannon Jewel and Isacc Tucker presenting. The Kobe lab will cater morning tea after the session in the secret garden.

Dr Kylie Agnew-Francis will be presenting "Bioactive secondary metabolites from Australian macrofungi", and in this presentation she will discuss preliminary findings from two genus of Australian fungi, Hericium and Kretzschmaria, collected from Tasmanian and Queensland rainforests, and how they are able to leverage these findings to engage with government, community organisations and other industries.

A/Prof John Dearnaley, the University of Southern Queensland, will be presenting 'Plant fungal endophytes – hidden immune systems in plants?'

Professor Josh Mylne of Curtin University will be presenting the 2023 Biochemistry Alumni Lecture, 'Key for a lock: using structural biology in new mode-of-action herbicide development'.