Scientific Head

  • Professor James Whisstock

    Professor James Whisstock is based at Monash University where he is currently an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, an Honorary National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Principal Research Fellow and Scientific Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging.

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Research groups

Our Partner Laboratory Network

  • Ananthanarayanan Group

    University of New South Wales

    The Ananthanarayanan Group is interested in understanding how stochastic and rare events, such as motor protein binding to cytoskeletal tracks or cargo, give rise to complex cellular organisation across scales.

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  • Arumugam Group

    Monash University

    The Arumugam Group is interested in how complex properties arise out of molecules and their interactions, with a primary focus on endosomal trafficking at the level of single cells and in the context of intercellular communications in development.

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  • Biro Group

    University of New South Wales

    The Biro Group investigates the cell biology and mechanics of the actin cytoskeleton, and how immune cells locate and kill cancer cells.

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  • Boyle Group

    Burnet Institute

    The Boyle Group's goal is to inform the development of effective malaria vaccines by defining functional mechanisms of antibodies that target the parasite, and the development of protective antibodies in humans.

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  • Cryle Group

    Monash University

    The Cryle Group focuses on antibiotics: understanding how they are made in nature and how we can re-engineer these natural systems to produce new antibiotics, as well as developing novel approaches to treat bacterial infections.

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  • Davidovich Group

    Monash University

    The Davidovich Group aims to understand the detailed molecular events that underlie the recruitment and regulation of chromatin-modifying complexes by their co-factor proteins, RNAs and DNA.

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  • Eyras Group

    Australian National University

    The Eyras Group is working to understand the biology of RNA and cancer using computational methods.

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  • Gambin Group

    University of New South Wales

    The Gambin Group is interested in how certain proteins aggregate together, leading to cell death and Parkinson’s disease.

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  • Martino Group

    Monash University

    The Martino group is focused on combining knowledge of immunology, stem cells, and bioengineering, to understand how the immune system modulates tissue repair and regeneration.

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  • Morris Group

    University of New South Wales

    The Morris Group applies and develops concepts from statistical and theoretical soft-condensed matter physics, as well as applied mathematics, in order to describe biological systems.

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  • Roman Group

    Monash University

    The Roman Group investigates how cells communicate to establish organ architecture and function and aims to improve muscle disorders and ageing.

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  • Weatheritt Group

    The Garvan Institute of Medical Research

    The Weatheritt Group aims to uncover the root causes of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder, using computational and system biology approaches and to develop novel therapeutic interventions.

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  • Zhang Group

    South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI)

    The Zhang Group aims to understand the molecular mechanisms of epigenetic regulation and their implications in
    cancer.

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Scientific Leadership

  • James Beeson

    Australian EMBL Partnership Laboratory Head (Burnet Institute)

    Professor James Beeson is the Deputy Director of the Burnet Institute and Head of the Malaria Immunity and Vaccines Research Group and the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies program.

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  • Robert Brink

    Australian EMBL Partnership Laboratory Head (Garvan)

    Professor Robert Brink is an immunologist and head of the Garvan Institute's Immunology Research Division and director of Translation Science.

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  • Till Böcking

    Australian EMBL Partnership Laboratory Head (UNSW)

    Till Böcking leads the Molecular Machines Group in the EMBL Australia Node for Single Molecule Science at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.

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  • John Carroll

    Australian EMBL Partnership Laboratory Head (Monash BDI)

    Professor John Carroll is a global expert on female reproduction, embryo development and infertility. He is Dean of Biomedical Science at Monash University and the Director of the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute.

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  • Peter Currie

    Australian EMBL Partnership Laboratory Head (ARMI)

    Professor Peter Currie is a world-renowned developmental evolutionary and stem cell biologist and the Director of Research at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI).

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  • Ross Hannan

    Australian EMBL Partnership Laboratory Head (ANU)

    Professor Ross Hannan is an expert in cancer biology and therapeutics. He is the Centenary Chair in Cancer Research and Head of the ACRF Department of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics at John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University.

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  • Fabienne Mackay

    Australian EMBL Partnership Laboratory Head (QIMR)

    Professor Fabienne Mackay is a renowned immunologist and the Director and CEO of QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Queensland.

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  • Jose Polo

    Australian EMBL Partnership Laboratory Head (SAiGENCI)

    Professor Jose M. Polo is an expert in cellular reprogramming, epigenetics and stem cell biology. He is Director of the Adelaide Centre for Epigenetics (ACE), a Program Leader at the South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI) and a Professor at Monash University.

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  • Steve Wesselingh

    Australian EMBL Partnership Laboratory Head (SAHMRI)

    Professor Steve Wesselingh is an infectious diseases physician and researcher in neurovirology, HIV and vaccine development. He is Executive Director of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).

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Alumni

  • David Lynn

    Former group leader (SAHMRI)

    Professor David Lynn was an EMBL Australia group leader at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and Flinders University between 2014 and 2023. He is a Professor of Systems Immunology at Flinders University and Director of the SAHMRI Computational and Systems Biology Program and Head of the Systems Immunology Laboratory.

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  • Edwina McGlinn

    Former group leader (Monash University)

    Associate Professor Edwina McGlinn was an EMBL Australia group leader at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, between 2011 and 2020. During that time, the McGlinn Group focused on elucidating novel gene networks that drive growth and identity in the early embryo.

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  • Harald Janovjak

    Former group leader (Monash University)

    Associate Professor Harald Janovjak was an EMBL Australia group leader at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, between 2018 and 2021. In January 2022 Harald relocated to the Flinders University as a Professor where his group will continue to manipulate mammalian physiology with synthetic biology.

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  • Nicolas Plachta

    Former group leader (Monash University)

    Dr Nicolas Plachta was an EMBL Australia group leader at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, between 2011 and 2015. He went on to lead a research group at Singapore's A*STAR, before joining the University of Pennsylvania, where his group uses live imaging technologies to study how the early mammalian embryo forms.

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  • Pirjo Apaja

    Former group leader (SAHMRI)

    Associate Professor Pirjo Apaja was an EMBL Australia group leader at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and the University of Adelaide between 2016 and 2021. During that time, the Apaja Group investigated protein networks and mechanisms that regulate protein trafficking, signalling and organelle function.

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  • Ville-Petteri Mäkinen

    Former group leader (SAHMRI)

    Associate Professor Ville-Petteri Mäkinen was an EMBL Australia group leader between 2014 and 2023 at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and the University of Adelaide, where he investigated metabolomics and the intersection of ageing, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He is now a researcher at the University of Oulu, Finland.

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  • Barry Thompson

    Former group leader (ANU)

    Professor Barry Thompson was an EMBL Australia group leader at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University between 2019 and 2023. His group aimed to understand the control of tissue growth and form, with a focus on exploring how cells construct epithelial tissues during development and how epithelial tumours can arise.

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