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  • Biomathematician & Honorary Senior Research Fellow
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
  • PhD Student & Global Challenges Scholar
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
  • Casual Web Development Officer
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
  • Wray/Visscher Group

    Group Leaders

    Professor Peter Visscher

    UQ Laureate Fellow and Group Leader
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Researcher biography: 

    Visscher joined the University of Queensland in 2011, where he is Professor of Quantitative Genetics. He is a Laureate Fellow of the Australian Research Council. Visscher was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2010, a Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in 2018 and a Foreign Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018.

    Visscher's research is about genetic variation for complex traits (including quantitative traits and disease) in populations, with the broad aim to understand and quantify the causes and consequences of human trait variation.

    Prof Peter Visscher, Prof Naomi Wray and Prof Jian Yang together comprise the Executive Team of the Program in Complex Trait Genomics (PCTG). PCTG comprises a critical mass of more than 30 post-doctoral researchers plus research assistants and students, all supported by external grant funding. Their skills lie in the ability to develop and apply statistical methods within the framework of quantitative, population and statistical genetics and to use theory to understand and predict results from data analyses. They play leading roles in the international research consortia. The focus of current research activities is in the detection and fine-mapping of loci underlying complex traits (including common disease), based upon theoretical studies and applications of methods to large datasets, in population genetics studies using theoretical approaches and high-density genetic marker data, and in systems genomics studies.

    Professor Naomi Wray

    Joint Appointment
    Queensland Brain Institute
    Professorial Research Fellow
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Researcher biography: 

    Naomi Wray is the Michael Davys Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. She holds an appointment at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) within the University of Queensland. She joined UQ Queensland Brain Institute in 2011 moving to the IMB in 2015. She was Head of the Centre for Population & Disease Genomics within IMB 2018-2023. Her Oxford appointment started in 2023.

    Her research focuses on development and application of quantitative genetics and genomics methodologies across complex diseases, disorders and traits, but particularly psychiatric-related traits.

    She is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science. In 2020 she was awarded the NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Award for Leadership in Basic Science and the 2021 International Society of Psychiatric Genetics Ming Tsuang Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a Clarivate Highly Cited researcher.

    She was Director of the Program in Complex Trait Genomics (PCTG) funded as an NHMRC Program Grant 2017-2022. She plays a key role in the International Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and established the sporadic ALS Australia systems genomics consortium (SALSA) funded by the MND Research Australia IceBucket Challenge and FightMND. She is a co-investigator on the Australian Genetics of Depression Study (AGDS) and is currently launching the AGDS-Cello project focussed on establishing a cell line resource from participants with a detailed history of anti-depressant use and response measures. She is part of an NHMRC Synergy (2023-2027) "Rhythms and blues: Personalising care for body clock dysfunction in mood disorders".

    She is secretary of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics, and is on the editorial advisory boards of JAMA Psychiatry, Neuron, Royal Society Open and Research Directions: Depression.

    Researchers

    Dr Yang Wu

    Higher degree by research (PhD) student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    0
    Supervisor: 

    Dr Jian Zeng

    NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow & Group Leader
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Researcher biography: 

    Dr Jian Zeng is a statistical geneticist and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at the University of Queensland (UQ). He received his PhD in animal breeding and genetics at Iowa State University and joined the Program in Complex Trait Genomics (PCTG) at UQ in 2016. His research focuses on the development and application of innovative statistical methods for estimating the genetic architecture and evolutionary signals in complex traits, identifying genetic variants, genes and other molecular intermediates associated with phenotype variation, and predicting trait phenotypes using genome sequence data. In 2019, he was awarded an NHMRC Investigator Emerging Leadership Grant to develop statistical methods and software tools for best predict an individual’s disease risk using genomic and omics data. He was an invited speaker at the prestigious Gordon Research Conference in 2019.

    Students

    Dr Alesha Hatton

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

    Alesha Hatton is a postdoctoral research fellow specializing in statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland. Currently, her research focuses on understanding the genetic and environmental aetiology underlying complex traits through use of Mendelian randomization and statistical genetics methodologies. Her PhD was in systems genomics, applying quantitative genetics methods to investigate the role of DNA methylation in complex trait variation. Alesha has a bachelor's degree in medical mathematics from the University of Wollongong and previously was employed as a statistician at the South Australian health and Medical Research Institute.

    Mr Longda Jiang

    Higher degree by research (PhD) student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    0
    Supervisor: 

    Mr Restu Restuadi

    Higher degree by research (PhD) student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 

    Mr Pierrick Wainschtein

    Researcher profile is public: 
    0
    Supervisor: 

    Ms Ying Wang

    Higher degree by research (PhD) student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    0
    Supervisor: 

    Miss Shiane Groot

    PhD student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 

    Admin Support Staff

    Research Support Staff

    Mr Angli Xue

    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Tags: 
    Wray/Visscher Group
  • Dr Caroline Holley is on a killing spree. She meticulously plans and oversees an untold number of “spectacular deaths” as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at IMB.
  • Honours student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
  • King Group

      Group Leader

    Professor Glenn King

    NHMRC Leadership Fellow and Group Leader
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Body: 

    Highlights

    Professor Glenn King is a biochemist and structural biologist whose expertise lies in translating venom-derived peptides into human drugs and bioinsecticides. His lab maintains the most extensive collection of venoms in the world, which includes venoms from more than 600 species of venomous spiders, scorpions, centipedes and assassin bugs.

    Professor King’s primary focus is on the development of drugs to treat three pervasive nervous system disorders: chronic pain, epilepsy, and stroke. His lab is working closely with several pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for clinical use.

    Professor King has also charted new territory in the field of agriculture by developing venom peptides as eco-friendly bioinsecticides. Vestaron Corporation, the company that he founded, will begin selling these bioinsecticides in the U.S. market in 2017.

    Mentorship is important to Professor King, and he is enthusiastically committed to training the next generation of biological scientists. To date he has trained 30 PhD students and 24 postdoctoral scientists, with 10 lab alumni having gone on to independent academic positions.

    Connect

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      Researchers

    Dr Aline Dantas de Araujo

    Research Fellow/Senior Research officer
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 

    Dr Natalie Saez

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

    Dr Elena-Laura Budusan

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

    Dr Andrew Walker

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

    My research interests are centred around the structure and function of venom and silk polypeptides produced by arthropods, and their use in biotechnology and medicine. I am a Postdoctoral Fellow in the King laboratory in the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, the University of Queensland, Australia. Currently, I am investigating the composition, function and evolution of neglected insect venoms produced by assassin bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae) and nettle caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae).

    Dr David Eagles

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

      Students

    Miss Raine Mercedes

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

    Miss Laura Isaza Pineda

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

    Miss Emily Smith

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

    Ms Alexandra Sundman

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

    Ms Unn Jeamsinkul

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

    Miss Shuyi Jin

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

    Mr Daniel McCarthy

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

    Ms Yongyi Tai

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

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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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