Molecular sciences

Our division decodes the fundamental molecular and genetic pathways that govern human health and disease. We investigate how genetics, gene regulation, and transcriptomic changes shape disease onset and progression, build detailed 3D structural blueprints of essential biological molecules and their cellular interactions, and explore these complex pathways to identify and validate untapped molecular targets.

By combining structural biology, advanced genomic technologies, and ubiquitin signalling research, we can transform basic biological discoveries into innovative, life-saving therapeutics.

This research can lead to improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune disorders, cancer, dementia, intellectual disabilities, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, and other neurodegenerative disorders. Through sharing our research and partnering with industry leaders like CSL and Moderna, we aim to foster global progress in molecular sciences and its applications in medicine.

• Blood cell generation
• Blood sugar regulation
• Cell growth and survival
• Immune responses
• Inflammatory conditions
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• RNA-based treatments
• The underlying biology of ubiquitin-mediated processes in cells
• Key biological pathways to develop innovative therapies

• Discovered a mechanism that regulates sugar, which could help create new therapies for people with diabetes, heart disease, and other disorders.
• Proved how the Trabid protein plays a critical role in healthy neuron development, which could help identify babies at risk of developing microcephaly.
• Pre-clinical insight into the toxic protein known to trigger muscular dystrophy that could help uncover new treatment for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).
• Solved how a protein helps the body remove damaged mitochondria which could inform the development of future treatments for Parkinson’s disease and other diseases.
• Won the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation for anti-cancer drug venetoclax used to treat patients with leukaemia.

Professor David Komander explains why the study of proteins could unlock new therapies to better treat neurodegenerative diseases, cancers, and autoimmune disorders.

How a gene discovery by Associate Professor Marnie Blewitt may lead to a treatment for a common form of muscular dystrophy.