Physical Sciences

Kaveh Shahbaz

Kaveh Shahbaz

Sourav Das

Sourav Das

Gunther Paul

Gunther Paul

Thaddeus Wu

Thaddeus Wu

Andrew Calcino

Andrew Calcino

Matt Field

Matt Field

Ulf Schmitz

Ulf Schmitz

Ira Cooke

Ira Cooke

Robert Streit

Robert Streit

Jon Day

Jon Day

Novel role of RNA splicing and modification in white blood cell formation
Ulf Schmitz
01 Jan 2026 - 31 Dec 2028
This project aims to address how ribonucleic acid (RNA) regulates white blood cell formation. This project expects to gain new insights into the mechanism and conservation of molecular processes governing white blood cell development using advanced molecular, cell biology and biochemical assays coupled with innovative RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Expected outcomes of the project include enhancing knowledge on how white blood cells are continuously replenished for the well-being of vertebrates and promoting international collaboration in the RNA sector. This should provide significant benefit in sustaining food production via knowledge to maintain health and combat blood disease in animals and advance Australia's RNA research.
Developing Core Bioinformatics Capacity at the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (Old ID 23197)
Matt Field
01 Jan 2018 - 31 Dec 2021
Cost effective next generation sequencing is now a reality, meaning the bottleneck for research projects has shifted from data generation to data analysis. Researchers at the Australian Institute of Health and Tropical Medicine (AITHM) are engaged in an increasing number of high-impact research projects that require timely access to high-throughput bioinformatics best-practices methodologies. This proposal outlines strategies to develop support for projects requiring bioinformatics within AITHM.
Developing Bioinformatics Capability to Diagnose Infectious Diseases using Clinical Metagenomics (Old ID 27176)
Matt Field
01 Jan 2022 - 31 Dec 2026
Current pathogen identification techniques are limited in terms of their speed, accuracy and inability to detect exotic pathogens. Using an unbiased metagenomic sequencing approach offers an improvement over current practice however supporting bioinformatics workflows are needed to support clinical implementation. This work can have enormous global reach with half the world’s population living in the tropics by 2050, many with limited healthcare options.
Genomics for Undiagnosed Infectious Disease Evaluation and Diagnosis in Northern Australia (Old ID 24759)
Matt Field
01 Jan 2018 - 31 Dec 2018
Diagnosis of scabies mostly relies on clinical symptoms as mites are extremely difficult to find in skin lesions of ordinary scabies (<20) which leads to under/misdiagnosis. This pilot project will address a long wanted need to develop a rapid diagnostic test for scabies. It is anticipated that this new DNA test will be highly sensitive and specific and will outperform standard microscopy. This will provide a powerful tool in scabies diagnosis particulary useful in clinical trials and epidemiologic studies.
Genomic tools for monitoring yellow crazy ants. (Old ID 29026)
Matt Field
22 Jun 2023 - 01 Jan 2025
This project will establish protocols and baseline data for ddRAD-seq based sequencing of yellow crazy ants. In this phase of the project, we will sequence 200 individuals from historical infestations and develop tools to assess genetic relatedness among infestations. Baseline data established in this project will be used to help trace the origin of future infestations as well as improve our understanding of genetic diversity and gene flow in yellow crazy ants in Queensland.
Leadership and Technology Training in Bioinformatics (Old ID 25062)
Matt Field
01 Jul 2018 - 31 Dec 2018
JCU has recently announced the creation of a centre for bioinformatics and genomics. This centre will expand on recent strategic efforts at JCU to develop core bioinformatics capability and solidify leadership in this growing area of research. This will effectively consolidate smaller disparate groups into a wellconnected larger group under one unifying body. Dr Field will act as co-director of this centre while concurrently building a bioinformatics research team at JCU. This proposal outlines steps to obtain the necessary leadership and mentoring skills required to support these two endeavours.
An integrated multi-omics approach to expedite diagnosis and management of inborn errors of immunity
Matt Field
01 Jan 2024 - 01 Jan 2028
Australia wide grant to develop national program to identify and manage nborn errors of immunity using multi-omic techologies
Transforming clinical pathways for abdominal aortic aneurysm through use of blood and imaging biomarkers
Matt Field
01 Jan 2023 - 01 Jan 2026
Transforming clinical pathways for abdominal aortic aneurysm through use of blood and imaging biomarkers
Improving skin cancer research capacity by establishing a skin cancer biobank at Townsville University Hospital
Ulf Schmitz
01 Aug 2024 - 31 Jul 2026
Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer worldwide and of all states and territories, Queensland has the highest rate in Australia. The skin cancer biobank will provide a prospectively collected pre-treatment and post-treatment tissue and serum cohort to allow us to study the biomarkers of tumour and its immune microenvironment with next generation tools (e.g. spatial analysis of proteomic and genomic, single cell sequencing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc). We aim to use these biomarkers along with our prospective registry of patients with high-risk skin cancer to further characterise the cancer and immune biology of high-risk skin cancer, response to treatment, and develop new treatment targets in the future.
How magnetic resonance impacts on immune regulatory factor secretion from brain tumour cells during radiotherapy
Ulf Schmitz
01 Aug 2024 - 31 Jul 2026
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To investigate how magnetic resonance impacts on brain tumour cell growth and immune regulatory factor secretion from brain tumour cells during radiotherapy 2. To identify and quantify specific immune regulatory factors which are observed during irradiation within a magnetic field and without
Title: Co-convenor Australasian Genomics Technology Association 2024
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2023
End Date: 01 Jan 2024
Title: PhD Thesis Examination x 5
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2021
End Date: 01 Jan 2024
Title: Organiser ABACBS / NHMRC Investigator Grant Workshop
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2022
End Date: 01 Jan 2024
Title: Organiser ABACBS national seminar series
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2020
End Date: 01 Jan 2023
Title: Advance Queensland Big data expert in academia workshop
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2016
End Date: 01 Jan 2016
Title: Bioplatforms Australia Bioinformatics Training
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2013
End Date: 01 Jan 2020
Title: School of Personalised Immunology
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2012
End Date: 01 Jan 2016
Title: EMBL Australia PhD course
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2014
End Date: 01 Jan 2016
Title: NHRMC Grant Review Panel x 7 (Projects, Ideas x 2, Investigator x 2, CRE x 2)
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2018
End Date: 01 Jan 2025
Title: Executive Associate Editor Human Genomics
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2022