Developing serial crystallography for room temperature structure & dynamics. This project aims to uncover the molecular structural dynamics of a bacterial enzyme responsible for protein folding in bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge to guide the development of a new type of antibacterial to circumvent antibiotic resistance. Expected outcomes of this project include new experimental, computational and simulation tools for dynamic X-ray crystallography including new capabiliti ....Developing serial crystallography for room temperature structure & dynamics. This project aims to uncover the molecular structural dynamics of a bacterial enzyme responsible for protein folding in bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge to guide the development of a new type of antibacterial to circumvent antibiotic resistance. Expected outcomes of this project include new experimental, computational and simulation tools for dynamic X-ray crystallography including new capabilities at the Australian Synchrotron for very small microcrystals of any biomolecule. This would provide a powerful new tool for the Australian structural biology community that should accelerate fundamental discoveries, including facilitating high-resolution structure determination of membrane proteins and drug development.Read moreRead less
Imaging metal homeostasis in the ageing brain. This fellowship aims to deliver new tools to visualise how changes to blood vessels during ageing effect the amount and distribution of metal ions in brain cells in animal models. This will be a significant advance as current methods cannot image these parameters. Metal ions are essential for brain function, but the effects of ageing on metal ions within brain cells is largely unknown. The results are expected to associate brain-blood vessel permeab ....Imaging metal homeostasis in the ageing brain. This fellowship aims to deliver new tools to visualise how changes to blood vessels during ageing effect the amount and distribution of metal ions in brain cells in animal models. This will be a significant advance as current methods cannot image these parameters. Metal ions are essential for brain function, but the effects of ageing on metal ions within brain cells is largely unknown. The results are expected to associate brain-blood vessel permeability with changes to metal ion content during ageing. The methods developed, and the fundamental new knowledge they reveal will benefit national and international neuroscientists seeking to elucidate the fundamental neurobiology of metal ions with respect to maintaining healthy brain function.Read moreRead less