Richard Francis

I received my PhD from the University of Otago medical school studying animal models of liver disease. As a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH (Bethesda, MD) I pursued research to analyze the role of the gap junction protein connexin43 in regulating cell migration during embryonic development. Later, as a staff scientist at the NIH I supervised cilia motility research utilizing nasal biopsies obtained from patients with heterotaxy and/or congenital heart disease. As a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine I helped conduct/supervise a broad range of studies where a range of congenital heart disease associated genes were discovered, including the discovery of a significant correlation between cilia defects and the development of complex congenital heart disease. I subsequently joined the Biomedical Imaging Facility at UNSW in Sydney to manage a range of core laboratories before moving to JCU where I’m pursuing research to better understand the mechanisms regulating motile cilia biology during health and disease.

Recent research data

Current Honours/Masters/PhD projects:

1) The role of motile cilia in mucociliary clearance