Get the latest research to your inbox
- Floor ManagerInstitute for Molecular Bioscience
- Group Leader, Cell and Developmental Biology DivisionEmeritus ProfessorInstitute for Molecular Bioscience
Yap Group
Group Leader
Professor Alpha Yap
Professor and ARC Laureate FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Researcher biography:My group studies the role of cadherin cell adhesion molecules in morphogenesis and tumor development. E-cadherin is a key mediator of cell-cell recognition. It participates in tissue patterning and its dysfunction contributes to tumor progression and invasion.
Associate Professor Yap is the group leader for Cadherin cell adhesion molecules, Epithelial morphogenesis & Cell locomotion research at the IMB.
Body:Highlights
Professor Alpha Yap is a cell biologist. After training in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Cell Physiology, he undertook postdoctoral research with Barry Gumbiner at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York) before returning to Australia to establish his independent research group.
His research is at the leading edge of a rapidly developing field of science called mechanobiology. Mechanobiology explores how mechanical forces influence biology. Professor Yap is particularly interested in understanding how cells communicate by exerting force upon one another.
Collaborating across disciplines with colleagues from physics, developmental biology and mathematics, his research group has been instrumental in discovering how mechanical forces are generated, and sensed, to coordinate cell behaviour in tissues. Focusing on the epithelial tissues that are the major barriers of the body, Professor Yap believes that their cells monitor force to detect changes in the health of the tissue. This has important implications for understanding diseases such as cancer and inflammation.
Professor Yap currently serves on the editorial boards of several major international journals, amongst them Developmental Cell, Current Biology and Molecular Biology of the Cell.
He was the recipient of the 2013 President’s Medal of the Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology and is a Principal Research Fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
Connect
Postdoctoral Researcher Fellows
Dr Ivar Noordstra
Research FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Dr Kinga Duszyc
Postdoctoral Research FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Dr Wan Jun Gan
Casual Senior Research AssistantInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Dr Julia Eckert
Postdoctoral Research FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Research Assistants
Ms Suzie Verma
Principal Research TechnicianInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Miss Fayth Lim
Senior Research TechnicianInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Students
Miss Denni Currin-Ross
PhD studentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Ms Zoya Mann
PhD studentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Mr Cheng Hui Goh
PhD studentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Ms Angela Khin Oo Lwin
Institute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:- Tasks to complete ahead of the scholarship application opening
- Research Fellow - CJ Martin FellowshipInstitute for Molecular Bioscience
- Postdoctoral Research FellowInstitute for Molecular Bioscience
Forde team
Group Leader
Dr Brian Forde
Senior Research FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Researcher biography:Brian Forde is a fellow in microbial bioinformatics and Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow at the University of Queensland (UQ) Centre for Clinical Research (CCR). Brian was awarded a PhD from University College Cork, Ireland, in 2013 and developed his interest in bacterial genomics as a postdoctoral fellow at the UQ School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences (SCMB). Currently, his work is primarily focused on clinical microbial genomics, including: the evolution of antibiotic resistance, genomic epidemiology, genomic surveillance of Infectious Diseases and translating genomic research into clinical practice. Since 2017 he has been part of a multidisciplinary team, including researchers, infectious diseases clinicians and infection control professionals, leading the introduction of WGS to investigate hospital-acquired infection in Queensland (https://www.queenslandgenomics.org). In 2020, Brian was awarded Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship to explore the application of Artificial Intelligence to genomic surveillance and transmission dynamics.
Researchers
Mr Thom Cuddihy
Bioinformatics DeveloperInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Dr Budi Permana
Postdoctoral Research FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Students
Ms Simone Dowd
PhD studentResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:- Postdoctoral Research FellowInstitute for Molecular Bioscience
Pages
Strawberry DNA extraction activity
Extract and view DNA from a strawberry using common household ingredients.
Get started
The Edge: Infection
The latest research and discovery
We are tackling the problem of drug-resistant bacteria through developing new diagnostics and treatments, and by empowering the community with knowledge on how to fight back against the threat of superbugs.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get the latest research straight to your inbox.
Stay up-to-date as we answer questions about hot topics, and share the latest news at IMB, Australia’s #1 research institute.
General enquiries
+61 7 3346 2222
imb@imb.uq.edu.au
Media enquiries
IMB fully supports UQ's Reconciliation Action Plan and is implementing actions within our institute.
Support us
Donate to research
100% of donations go to the cause