Lab team

Louise Baker, Institute/Melbourne Water Centenary Fellow for Water, Global Health and Innovation, BSc(Hons) Melbourne PhD Melbourne

Project: Development and application of molecular diagnostic tools for waterborne toxic, pathogenic and nuisance micro-organisms.

Key publication: Baker L, Sendall B, Gasser R, Menjivar T, Neilan B, Jex A. Rapid, multiplex-tandem PCR assay for automated detection and differentiation of toxigenic cyanobacterial blooms. Molecular and Cellular Probes. 2013. 27 (208-214). PMID 23850895.

Samantha Emery, Postdoctoral Fellow, BSc(Hons) Macquarie PhD Macquarie

Project: Quantitative proteomics and post-translational modification networks in the gastro-intestinal protist parasite Giardia duodenalis. 

Key publication: Emery S, Mirzaei M, Vuong D, Pascovici D, Chick JM, Lacey E, Haynes PA. Induction of virulence factors in Giardia duodenalis independent of host attachment. Sci Rep 2016 6 20765. PMID: 26867958.

Hayley Joseph, Postdoctoral Fellow, BMedLabSc(Hons) James Cook PhD (Cum Laude) James Cook

Projects: i) Chemosensation in Ascaris infection, ii) Development of diagnostic tools for water-borne and water-associated infections, iii) Development of rapid diagnostics for Burkholderia pseudomallei

Key publication: Haparai L, Plichart C, Naseri T, Silva U, Tesimale L, Pemita P, Bossin H, Burkot T, Ritchie S, Graves P, Melrose W, Joseph H. Evaluation of traps and lures for mosquito vectors and xenomonitoring of Wuchereria bancrofti infection in a high prevalence Samoan village. Parasites and Vectors. 2015. 8(1): 287. DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-0886-2. PMID: 26016830

Balu Balan, PhD Student, BSc Amrita MSc Amrita

Project: Functional and computational characterisation of Post Transcriptional Regulation in the early diverging eukaryotic protist parasite Giardia duodenalis. 

Key Publication: Beri D, Balan B, Chaubey S, Subramaniam S, Surendra B, Tatu U. A disrupted transsulphuration pathway results in accumulation of redox metabolites and induction of gametocytogenesis in malaria. Scientific Reports. 2017 (40213). PMID: 28091526

Nijoy John, PhD Student, Dip Mgmt Adelaide BSc Bangalore MSc Bangalore MSc Flinders

Project: Molecular tools to detect toxic, taste and odour-producing cyanobacteria in various water resources.

Key publication: John N, Koehler AV, Ansell BRE, Baker L, Crosbie ND, Jex AR. An improved method for PCR-based detection and routine monitoring of geosmin-producing cyanobacterial blooms. Water Research. 2018 136 (34-40). PMID: 29494895

Jeffrey Smith, PhD Student, BA BSc(Hons), Grad.DipEd.

Project: Novel methods for global surveillance of RNA-binding proteins and their RNA binding partners.

Key publication: Pizzolla A, Nguyen T, Smith J, Brooks A, Kedzieska K, Heath W, Reading P, Wakim L. Resident memory CD8+ T cells in the upper respiratory tract prevent pulmonary influenza virus infection. Science Immunology 2017. PMID: 28783656

Katharina Stracke, PhD Student, BSc Würzburg MSc Aachen 

Project: Impact of soil-transmitted helminth infections on pre-school children from Thailand.

Swapnil Tichkule, PhD Student, BTech Dehradun MTech Allahabad

Project: Population genomics study of Cryptosporidium species from whole genome sequences

Key publication: Kundu N, Tichkule S, Pandit SB, Chattopadhyay K. Disulphide bond restrains C-terminal region of thermostable direct hemolysin during folding to promote oligomerization. Biochemical Journal. 2017 474(2):317-331. PMID: 27784764

Rikvin Singh Rekhi, Honours student, BSc Melbourne