Michael Smout

Dr Michael Smout obtained his BSc from the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia and his PhD from UQ/Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR). His research interests have included melanoma, childhood viral infections and most recently parasitic helminths of humans. His expertise focus is the proteins secreted by parasitic helminths and those that facilitate their parasitic existence. His work has taken him to a range of locations, including 2 years at George Washington University working with the Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation before relocating back to Queensland in 2004. For the past decade Dr Smout’s research has focused primarily on the search for carcinogenic molecules from the secretions of the human liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrinni - one of only three carcinogenic eukaryotic pathogens. His major scientific achievements include firstly, the identification of the parasite-derived growth factor, granulin, a protein that supercharges wound healing but establishes a tumorigenic environment in the liver of infected patients. Secondly, the creation of the xWORM assay, a novel objective parasitic worm viability monitoring method. This method is a vital step when screening for new drug treatments or drug resistance in a range of devastating parasitic worms.

With a creative flair for presenting he has won a range of science and general public presentation events since his northern migration to the Queensland Tropical Health Alliance laboratories at James Cook University in Cairns. At a national level he won the “best pitch” in the 2012 Australian Trailblazer innovation competition and the 2014 Australian Famelab public presentation competition with 3 minutes that included eviscerating a teddy bear. This led to representing Australia at the International Famelab in the United Kingdom. His new position in Northern Australia has allowed his love of parasitic worm venom to now include anything tropical and toxic, including scorpions, stonefish and the world’s most venomous creature, the Australian sea wasp, also known as the big box jelly(fish).

Google Scholar ID: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=XkWJ1DQAAAAJ&hl=en

ORCHID ID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6937-0112

Research web: https://research.jcu.edu.au/portfolio/michael.smout