Rosemary Cater was recently recruited to UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience as a Group Leader and ARC DECRA Fellow. She utilizes structural biology, membrane protein biochemistry, and biophysics to understand some of the brain’s most elusive yet important proteins. The overarching goal of the Cater Lab is to understand molecular mechanisms of transport at the blood-brain barrier.

Dr. Cater was awarded her PhD in 2017 from the University of Sydney, and from 2017-2023 she was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Filippo Mancia at Columbia University, New York, USA. Here she used single-particle cryo-electron microscopy and antigen-binding technology to determine structures of small membrane proteins.

Highlights of her career thus far include:

• She has been awarded an ARC DECRA, an NIH K99/R00 career transition award.
• She received a 2022 Blavatnik Regional Finalist Award in Chemistry – a highly competitive award for outstanding post-doctoral research presented at the New York Academy of Sciences Annual Gala.
• She was selected as one was 1 of 120 young leaders invited from 46 countries to the 2022 Science and Technology in Society Forum (Kyoto) to discuss humanity’s global challenges with politicians, CEOs, and Nobel Laureates.
• She was appointed as one of twelve Simons Society Fellows (2018-2022) – one of the USA’s most competitive post-doctoral fellowships, founded in New York by billionaire philanthropist Jim Simons.
• She received a Robin Anders Young Investigator Award at the Lorne Protein Structure and Function 2020 Meeting – one of Australia’s most competitive awards for early-career protein scientists.