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- Adjunct FellowInstitute for Molecular Bioscience
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Francois Group
Group Leader
Dr Mathias Francois
Group Leader, Genomics of Development and Disease DivisionResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Body:Highlights
After finishing his undergraduate degree at the Toulouse III University, Mat Francois undertook a PhD in Paris, studying the role of nuclear receptors in the control of inflammation associated with osteoarthritis, finishing in 2004.
In 2005 he moved to Australia as a postdoctoral scientist in Peter Koopman’s laboratory, and began researching the role of SOX transcription factors in the control of lymphatic vessel development. His research led to the discovery of a molecular switch (SOX18) responsible for triggering the development of the lymphatic vascular system in the embryo. This finding helped him to launch his independent career. He was awarded the ASMR Queensland Premier’s award in 2009 and a UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award in 2011.
Late in 2011 Mat set up his own lab at IMB to focus on the molecular hierarchy that governs endothelial cell differentiation during embryogenesis, and later received a career development award to elucidate the role of SOX protein in the modulation of the lymphatic and blood vascular growth that controls both embryonic development and tumour metastasis.
Mat’s research at IMB is now based on the combination of developmental biology and the use of pathophysiological models (e.g. cancer metastasis and lymphoedema) in combination with a drug discovery pipeline to identify novel therapeutic approaches to block cancer metastasis via the pharmacological manipulation of transcription factor activity.
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Researchers
Mrs Emmanuelle Frampton
Principal Research Technician/Scientist/EngineerInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Body:Emmanuelle is a research assistant working in the Francois lab at UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience.
Students
Miss Keyi Jiang
Higher degree by research (PhD) studentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Miss Alex Mccann
Higher degree by research (PhD) studentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Body:Alex is an Honours student in the Francois lab at UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience.
Ms Siew Zhuan Tan
Higher degree by research (PhD) studentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:- Neuropeptides are protein-like signalling molecules that regulate many important physiological processes and behaviours
Doolan Group
Group Leader
Professor Denise Doolan
Professorial Research Fellow & Group Leader & Deputy Director (Research)Institute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Researcher biography:Professor Denise Doolan is Director of Research at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. She joined IMB in 2022 and was previously Deputy Director of the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, and Director of the JCU Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, at James Cook University.
She is a molecular immunologist, working on the development of vaccines, diagnostics and host-directed therapeutics for infectious and chronic diseases that impact global public health, with a particular focus on malaria. Her cross-disciplinary research program spans host-pathogen immunity, antigen discovery, vaccine engineering, and biomarker discovery. A particular interest is the application of state-of-the-art genome-based technologies and human models of disease system to identify novel targets for intervention against disease or that predict risk of disease.
She is a recognized world expert in malaria immunology, vaccinology, and omic-based approaches for therapeutic and diagnostic development. She has been honoured as a Fellow of the International Society for Vaccines (2017) and a Fellow of the Australian Society of Parasitology (2019) in recognition of her leadership and contribution to health and medical science in Australia and internationally.
Professor Doolan serves on a number of Executive Boards and Advisory Boards. Most recently, she has been elected as President of the International Society for Vaccines (2021-2023), and has been appointed to the Federal Government's Australian Medical Research Advisory Board (AMRAB; 2021-2026) to provide specialist insights into Australia's medical research and innovation priorities.
Body:
Researchers
Dr Yomani Sarathkumara
Postdoctoral Research FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Researcher biography:Dr. Yomani Sarathkumara's research focuses on characterising humoral immune responses to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in EBV-associated diseases.
During her PhD at James Cook University, Australia, she identified novel antibody biomarkers for EBV-associated cancers, including natural killer/T-cell lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma, using well-characterised hospital-based case-control samples from the AsiaLymph study—a large, multicentre epidemiological investigation of lymphoma and related haematologic malignancies conducted across Asia in collaboration with the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI). She also identified antibody markers predictive of clinical responses in EBV-positive lymphoma patients treated with EBV-specific T-cell immunotherapy in Phase I clinical trials conducted by Baylor College of Medicine, USA.
Her Honours research at Northumbria University, UK, focused on identifying antibody responses to a fungal antigen associated with Pigeon Fancier's Lung disease. For her Master's by Research (MPhil) from 2016–2018, conducted in collaboration with the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and Hokkaido University, Japan, she demonstrated that hantavirus exposure is a major risk factor for developing chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka—a significant public health concern in agricultural communities. This study earned the President's Award for Scientific Research - 2019 in Sri Lanka.
Following her PhD, Dr. Sarathkumara joined the University of Queensland (UQ) as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow under the supervision of Professor Denise Doolan. Building on her doctoral work, she is currently investigating the potential role of EBV in triggering autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), aiming to identify diagnostic and predictive antibody biomarkers. This work is conducted in collaboration with the University of Texas and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, USA. In parallel, she is also examining antibody responses in individuals with acute EBV infection through a collaboration with UMass Chan Medical School, University of Massachusetts, USA.
Her research integrates high-throughput serological profiling, statistical modelling, and immunoassay development, and is supported by strong international collaborations.
Dr Anouschka Akerman
Postdoctoral Research FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Dr Ashton Kelly
Researcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Ms Maggie King
Principal Research AssistantInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Students
Ms Brenna Daily
PhD Student & Casual Senior Research AssistantInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Miss Nadia Boulahia
PhD StudentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Miss Kiara Knuckey
StudentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:- Institute for Molecular Bioscience
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The Edge: Genetics
People have known for thousands of years that parents pass traits to their children, but it is only relatively recently that our technology has caught up to our curiosity, enabling us to delve into the mystery of how this inheritance occurs, and the implications for predicting, preventing and treating disease.
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