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Collins Group
Group Leader
Professor Brett Collins
Director, Centre for Cell Biology of Chronic DiseaseNHMRC Leadership Fellow - GL & Centre Director of Institute for Molecular BioscienceInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor: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.
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Researchers
Dr Shan Zheng
Postdoctoral Research FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Students
Ms Denaye Eldershaw
Global Challenges ScholarInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Ms Meihan Liu
Research StaffInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Mr Dominic Hoyle
PhD StudentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Ms Ella Stephens
PhD StudentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Mr Mingze Xu
StudentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:- Our vision is to transform global industries with solar-driven biotechnologies that secure planetary sustainability and resilience.
- PhD studentInstitute for Molecular Bioscience
Cater Lab Team
Group Leader
Dr Rosemary Cater
Senior Research Fellow & Group LeaderInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Researcher biography:Dr. Rosemary Cater is a Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader at the University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience in Australia. She fulfilled her Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Renae Ryan at the University of Sydney, where she used electrophysiology and x-ray protein crystallography to understand how glutamate transporters serve a secondary function as chloride channels. She then went on to complete her post-doctoral training in the lab of Prof. Filippo Mancia at Columbia University, where she used single-particle cryo-electron microscopy and antigen-binding technology to determine structures of small membrane proteins. The overarching goal of the Cater Lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms of nutrient transport at the blood-brain barrier, and how variations to this are implicated in different diseases states.
Dr Cater is a current ARC DECRA Fellow, and has received several prestigious awards and fellowships, for her research including the New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Regional Award (2022) and the Eppendorf & Science Journal Award for Neurobiology (2024).
Researchers
Dr Farrah Blades
Postdoctoral Research FellowInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Researcher biography:My research interests are in cell structure, intra-cellular pathways and in protein structure. During my honors I characterised two mouse models of Multiple Sclerosis, looking at T-cell permeability through the blood-brain barrier and the CXCR4/ CXCL12 chemokine axis. During my PhD I found critical roles for the tyrosine kinase receptor, Tyro3, in myelination and retinal ganglion cell function while assessing the neuronal functional outcomes of Tyro3 driven myelin structural deficits. Following my PhD, I moved to the university of Queensland to begin a post doctoral research fellowship under the supervision of Prof. Ben Hankamer, where I focussed on cryogenic electron microscopy and single particle analysis of the photosystem II supercomplex. During this time I also helped establish a virtual desktop which runs from the Bunya supercomputer, making research software accessible and easier to use across UQ.
As of 2024 I have begun as a post doctoral research fellow under the supervision of Dr. Rosemary Cater, I will be assessing the structure and function of membrane transporter proteins such as FLVCR2 and MFSD2A in the context of the blood-brain and blood-retinal barrier. Our goal is twofold: first, to comprehend the fundamental biology of these transporters; second, to discover a mechanism that enables drug access across the blood-brain and blood-retinal barriers. This advancement will facilitate therapeutic treatments for an array of central nervous system diseases.
Body:Dr Farrah Blade's research interests are in cell structure, intra-cellular pathways and in protein structure. During her honours she characterised two mouse models of Multiple Sclerosis, looking at T-cell permeability through the blood-brain barrier and the CXCR4/ CXCL12 chemokine axis.
During her PhD, Farrah found critical roles for the tyrosine kinase receptor, Tyro3, in myelination and retinal ganglion cell function while assessing the neuronal functional outcomes of Tyro3 driven myelin structural deficits.
Following her PhD, Farrah moved to The University of Queensland (UQ) to begin a Post Doctoral Research Fellowship under the supervision of Professor Ben Hankamer, where she focused on cryogenic electron microscopy and single particle analysis of the photosystem II supercomplex. During this time she also helped establish a virtual desktop which runs from the Bunya supercomputer, making research software accessible and easier to use across UQ.As of 2024, Farrah has begun a post doctoral research position under the supervision of Dr Rosemary Cater, assessing the structure and function of membrane transporter proteins such as FLVCR2 and MFSD2A in the context of the blood-brain and blood-retinal barrier. The goal is twofold: first, to comprehend the fundamental biology of these transporters; second, to discover a mechanism that enables drug access across the blood-brain and blood-retinal barriers. This advancement will facilitate therapeutic treatments for an array of central nervous system diseases.
Students
Mr Matthew van der Burg
PhD StudentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Ms Ariana Ivanic
PhD StudentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Miss Ruohua Gao
PhD StudentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Mr Parteek Mandhan
StudentInstitute for Molecular BioscienceResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:
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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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