Membrane transporters and channels

Membrane transporters and ion channels play a crucial role in the provision of nutrients to organisms and cells, they remove toxic compounds and waste, and are crucial in regulating excitability in the nervous system. In the Research School of Biology we target ion channels to treat human diseases and target transporters to treat type 2 diabetes and cancer. We use computational approaches to study the function of ion channels and investigate transport processes in parasites as novel targets to combat Malaria. 

Project Groups
Adaptations of solid tumours to their environment
ANU International applicants for PhDs in Biomedical Science and Biochemistry
Biologically inspired membranes for the efficient desalination of water
Cancer metabolism
Cellular adaptations that allow the transmission and survival of Plasmodium falciparum when taken up by the mosquito
CO2 acquisition by cyanobacteria and plants, & Synthetic Biology strategies for transplanting cyanobacterial CO2 Concentrating mechanism parts in crop plants
CO2 diffusion inside leaves
Computational models of nerve conduction
Design and evaluation of novel antimalarial drugs
Designing new channel inhibitors for treating chronic pain
Diseases of amino acid transport
Do multidrug transporters play a role in Alzheimer’s Disease?
Drug resistance in the human malaria parasite
Erythrocyte membrane modifications during malaria infection
Functional characterisation of novel autotransporter proteins
How do biological molecules distinguish between ions?
How do RNA binding proteins find the right partner?
How does P-glycoprotein confer resistance to so many anti-cancer drugs?
How does pfCRT confer drug resistance to malaria?
Identification and characterisation of membrane transport proteins
Ion homeostasis in the malaria parasite
Lipid flipping in vision: seeing is believing!
Membrane transport proteins of the malaria parasite and their roles in conferring drug resistance
New antibiotics that target membrane channels
Novel nutrient/metabolite transporters in apicomplexan parasites
Nutrient acquisition in apicomplexan parasites
Olfactory pattern recognition in nematodes
Plasmodium falciparum lipid metabolism as a target for malaria intervention strategies
Redesign and engineering of the autotransporter β-barrel domain
Structural basis of drug resistance in the Malaria parasite
Structural basis of Endometriosis
Student opportunities in molecular analysis of CO2 acquisition by cyanobacteria
SynBio enabled biosensors
Synthetic nanotubes to mimic biological ion channels
Targeting ion transport in apicomplexan parasites with new generation antimalarials
The biology of the mitochondrion of apicomplexan parasites
The role of amino acids in diabetes
The role of phospholipid flippases in the immune system
The transport game – modelling the physiology of cells
To what degree does autotransporter folding inside the bacterial cell resemble autotransporter folding in bulk solution?
Understanding the proteins responsible for our sense of touch
Vitamin utilisation by malaria parasites