![]() Prof Peter CurrieDirector, ARMI |
He undertook postdoctoral training in zebrafish development at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK) in London, UK. He has worked as an independent laboratory head at the UK Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, UK and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, Australia where he headed a research programme focused on skeletal muscle development and regeneration.
His work is centred on understanding how the small freshwater zebrafish is able to build and regenerate skeletal muscle. In 2016 he was appointed Director of Research of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a recipient of a European Molecular Biology Organization Young Investigators Award and a Wellcome Trust International Research Fellowship and currently is a Senior Principal Research Fellow with the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia. |
![]() Prof James WhisstockEMBL Australia Scientific Head |
Working to understand how the immune system destroys targets and leads to tissue remodelling, to develop therapeutics to control or target the immune response in inflammatory diseases and cancer. Professor James Whisstock is a highly regarded research scientist with an extensive publication record. James is based at Monash University, where he is currently an ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, a 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.
Previously, James held an ARC Federation Fellowship, he led the NHMRC Program Grant in Protease Systems Biology (2008-2012) and he was a chief investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics (2005-2013). In 2006 he was awarded the Science Minister’s Prize for life science, in 2008 the Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research and in 2010 the Australian Academy of Science Gottschalk medal. James completed his degree at Cambridge University. During his PhD (also at Cambridge), he trained in bioinformatics and in structural biology. He came to Australia as a research fellow at Monash University in January 1997, where he established his laboratory. The Whisstock laboratory includes expertise in structural biology (including X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy), biochemistry, bioinformatics and molecular genetics. James and his team use these techniques to address questions in the fields of infection and immunity, blood coagulation, developmental biology and cancer. Recent work from the Whisstock laboratory includes the structure of the fibrinolytic pro-enzyme plasminogen and a series of discoveries around the mechanism of pore formation by the mammalian immune effector perforin |
![]() Prof Alice PebayHead of Neuroregeneration Research Unit, Department of Anatomy, University of Melbourne |
Prof. Alice Pébay obtained a PhD in Neurosciences from the University of Paris VI in 2001 and subsequently joined Professor Martin Pera at Monash University to undertake research on human pluripotent stem cells. She then continued her research in this area at the University of Melbourne where she commenced in 2007.
Alice’s team aims to use patient specific pluripotent stem cells to model neurodegenerative diseases of the eye and brain. Alice has a proven track record in generating iPSCs and differentiating them into various cell types for disease modelling including those affecting the central nervous system and the eye. Alice and her collaborators have pioneered the use of automation for human pluripotent stem cell research in Australia, enabling the streamlining generation and maintenance of iPSC-derived cells from hundreds of patients. Alice was awarded a National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Career development Fellowship in 2012, subsequently an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship in 2014 and is now a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. Alice is the primary inventor of three granted international patents related to stem cell technology. |
![]() A/Prof Edwina McGlinnEMBL Australia Group Leader alumna |
Edwina McGlinn is an EMBL Australia Partner Network Lab Group Leader, based at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University. Edwina completed a PhD in developmental and molecular biology (1999-2004) with Associate Professor Carol Wicking at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience UQ, identifying novel downstream effectors of Sonic hedgehog in the developing mouse limb. She then became a research fellow in the laboratory of Professor Clifford Tabin, Harvard Medical School USA (2004-2010), elucidating genetic networks involved in patterning the vertebrate limb and axial skeleton. |
![]() Prof Nellie Georgiou-KaristianisPro Vice-Chancellor (Research Training), Monash University |
In her role of Deputy Dean, Academic and Graduate Affairs, Professor Nellie Georgiou-Karistianis provides strategic leadership and oversight of academic performance across the areas of probation, performance development and promotion. She supports senior leaders and academic staff in strengthening academic performance, driving a culture of performance excellence. Nellie also manages the Faculty’s graduate research degree programs, with a focus on quality recruitment, training and work-readiness.
A cognitive neuroscientist and Professor of Psychology, Nellie is internationally recognised for her research in rare neurodegenerative disorders, such as Huntington’s disease and Friedreich ataxia. Heading up the Georgiou-Karistianis Experimental Neuropsychology Research Unit, within the Turner Institute of Brain and Mental Health, Nellie has led large, multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research programs, supported by competitive government and philanthropic funding. She has a long-standing commitment to supervising PhD students and supporting early career researchers. External to her Monash appointments, Nellie is on the Board of Directors of Health Education Australia Limited (HEAL), Director of the Huntington’s Research Group of Victoria (HRGV), and member of the editorial board of the Journal of Huntington’s Disease. She also serves on a number of international scientific research committees. During her time at Monash, Nellie has held several academic and leadership positions, including course convenor of the first-year psychology program, course convenor of the Bachelor of Behavioural Neuroscience, Director of Graduate Research Programs and Associate Dean of Graduate Research. Nellie is a graduate of the Harvard University Leadership for Senior Executives program and holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a PhD from Monash University. |
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Prof Cornelius GrossInterim Head of EMBL Rome, EMBL Representative |
PhD 1995, Yale University.
Postdoctoral research at Columbia University. Group leader at EMBL Rome since 2003. Deputy Head of Outstation and Senior Scientist since 2009. Interim Head of EMBL Rome since 2020. |