Secondary cell wall regulation and synthetic biology: lessons from Eucalyptus

Title: Secondary cell wall regulation and synthetic biology: lessons from Eucalyptus

Speaker: Prof Steven Hussey (Adelaide University)

Bio: Dr Steven Hussey is a Senior Mortlock Fellow at Adelaide University, specialising in the transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of perennial plant developmental processes such as wood formation. Prior to his appointment in late 2024, Dr Hussey spent two years in the Australian life sciences industry after leading a research group in the Forest Molecular Genetics Programme at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where he remains Extraordinary Lecturer (Adjunct). His team has employed functional genomics approaches such as transcriptomics, DAP-seq, transgenesis and transient protoplast transfection aided by machine learning to elucidate transcriptional regulatory networks underlying woody biomass development. He has also developed an extensive panel of synthetic Eucalyptus transcription factors and promoters for transcriptional network inference and bioengineering of wood development, funded by the US Department of Energy. Among other grants and research awards that he has received, Dr Hussey was awarded a Prestigious (P) Award from the National Research Foundation of South Africa in 2020 and has devoted much of his early career to building transdisciplinary innovation among students through the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition. Recently, Dr Hussey accepted a 0.5 FTE in-kind role as Chief Scientific Officer at the Adelaide University node of a new Bioplatforms facility, Plant Synthetic Biology Australians.