Systems Biology and Personalised Medicine

Photo credit: Victorian Platform Technology Network

Using high-throughput biology (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics) to understand global changes in biological systems, and using this knowledge to inform therapeutic decisions.

Research focus

  • Changes in biological pathways during tumour formation, maintenance and spread
  • Profiling the characteristics that predispose patients to respond differently to therapies
  • Profiling the mitochondrial proteomes of cells with different sensitivities to apoptosis
  • Building signalling pathway-based ontologies for biological systems, particularly those dysregulated in disease

Post-genomic biology is gaining new insights into how biological systems work by bringing together biological datasets from disparate technologies such as gene expression microarrays, next-generation sequencing and quantitative tandem mass spectrometry. The large datasets generated by these technologies also mean that biology is rapidly becoming an information–based discipline, and today’s biologist needs the skills to use, access and exploit electronic information just as urgently as laboratory-based expertise. Merging these datasets and exploiting our conclusions for better therapeutic outcomes requires us to re-examine reductionist thinking about biology.

Faculty Members

Professor Liam O’Connor

Scientific Coordinator: Ms Lisa Connolly (contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

Proteomics Laboratory

Dr Tom Nebl - Proteomics Manager/ Protein characterisation

Dr Giuseppe Infusini - Research Officer/ Discovery Proteomics

Dr Andrew Webb - Research Officer/ Targeted Proteomics

Computational Biology Laboratory

Mr Simon Michnowicz - WEHI Mascot Facility Manager/IT Support

Ms Liz Milla - Computational Biologist/Data Analyst

Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory

Dr Sam Wormald - Research Officer

High Throughput Sequencing Laboratory

Ms Doreen Agyapomaa - Research Technician