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  • 10 Jul 2023
    ASSCR is pleased to invite you to the 2nd ASSCR scientific meeting for Early Career Researchers (ECRs - Student and Postdoctoral level) in Queensland: 'Breaking Boundaries in Regenerative Medicine and Developmental Biology'. This meeting follows on from the inaugural meeting that occurred in 2021 and is part of a series of interstate events which will be held over the year.
  • Senior Principal Research Fellow
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
  • Professor
    School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide
  • Q&A with Jane Ilsley, IMB Communications Officer
  • Collins Group

    Group Leader

    Professor Brett Collins

    Director, Centre for Cell Biology of Chronic Disease
    NHMRC Leadership Fellow - GL & Centre Director of Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Researcher biography: 

    Brett Collins is an NHMRC Career Development Fellow and head of the Molecular Trafficking Lab at UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience. He was a lead investigator in the seminal structural studies of AP2, the protein adaptor molecule central to clathrin-mediated endocytosis, and has since defined the molecular basis for the function of critical proteins regulating membrane trafficking and signalling at the endosome organelle. His team is now focused on understanding how discrete molecular interactions between proteins and lipids control these processes in human cells.

    Associate Professor Collins was awarded his PhD in 2001 and has published over 75 papers including in Cell, Nature, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, Developmental Cell, and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, altogether cited more than 3100 times. He is the recipient of 3 prestigious fellowships, including a previous Career Development Award from the National Health and Medical Research Council and a Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council, and was awarded the University of Queensland Research Excellence Award in 2008. In 2015 he was awarded the Emerging Leader Award of the ANZSCDB and in 2016 the Merck Research Medal from the ASBMB. He is currently the President of the Queensland Protein Group.

    Body: 

    Highlights

    Seeing the structure of a protein at the atomic level as an undergrad set off a career in structural biology for Brett Collins. His interest in how cells work, and the techniques used to visualise the complex interaction mechanisms of the structures within, earned him his PhD in 2001. Postdoctorate work at Cambridge University steered him towards ‘membrane trafficking’, the term used to describe how proteins are moved from one part of a cell to another, or indeed between cells, via a complex system of membranes.

    Now, as head of IMB’s Membrane Trafficking Group, he’s using techniques such as X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy to visualise protein structure at the atomic level to investigate why things sometimes go wrong with our cells’ protein transport system. Faulty proteins are known to cause the development of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, and muscular dystrophy.

    Connect

     

    Researchers

    Dr Benjamin Weger

    NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 

    Dr Meltem Weger

    Research Fellow
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Researcher biography: 

    I am a basic science researcher trained in molecular and cell biology, with expertise in transdisciplinary research. My primary focus is investigating the circadian aspects of (patho-) physiology, specifically in relation to the liver. I am particularly interested in understanding how circadian, endocrine, and metabolic pathways work together to maintain homeostasis, as well as how disruptions in these pathways can contribute to pathological conditions.

    Following the completion of my PhD at Heidelberg University in Germany in 2013, I pursued post-doctoral studies as a Marie-Curie Fellow at Birmingham University (UK) and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland). During this time, I utilized omics-approaches to elucidate the metabolic changes caused by impaired mitochondrial glucocorticoid biosynthesis and adrenal insufficiency. Additionally, I investigated the relationship between mitochondrial function and stress-induced depression. In order to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying rhythmic expression of metabolic genes, I also developed tools that facilitate the study of how circadian clock components and glucocorticoids cooperatively drive these processes.

    In 2019, I have joined the Physiology of Circadian Rhythms laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, to investigate the role of the circadian clock and chronodisruption in metabolism and liver disease.

    Students

    Ms Denaye Eldershaw

    Global Challenges Scholar
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 

    Ms Meihan Liu

    Research Staff
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 

    Mr Dominic Hoyle

    PhD Student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    0
    Supervisor: 

    Ms Ella Stephens

    PhD Student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    0
    Supervisor: 

    Mr Mingze Xu

    Student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
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