Postdoctoral Association of QIMR Berghofer - PAQ

Congrats to our Sponsor passport competition winners, Yan, Daniel and Kate! Thank you to all the post docs that participated in this competition by talking to our awesome sponsors!

Congrats to our three speakers Silvia, Nathan and Harley on their outstanding presentations at the forum! Thank you to BioTools for sponsoring these prizes!

The Forum would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors! Thank you to our Silver Sponsors 🩶 Scientifix, Decode Science, Fisher Biotec, Australian Biosearch, Sartorius, Bio-strategy and Tecan!

The Forum would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors! Thank you to our Gold Sponsors 💛 Abacusdx and BioTools!

program director, Prof Christian Engwerda, sharing his journey as a researcher, topics to consider as scientists, and answering tough questions from the post docs!

Our invited speaker, Dr Stephen Bradford, shared his journey from an academic into commercialisation of research!

We started the day with flash talks from our post docs! Huge thank you to Cristina, Sam, Mary, Aimee, Harley, Daffodil, Cameron, Sitwat, Leon, Nathan, Deepani and Silvia for sharing your research updates!

On Friday the 14th of June, the Postdoctoral Association of hosted the seventh forum to provide postdoctoral researchers with the opportunity to come together and discuss issues important to their career progression and development, at the 👩🏻‍🔬👨🏻‍🔬

Congratulations to our post-l docs who were successful in receiving a number of different grants in 2023! We are excited to see your research unfold over this time period! 🥼

Check out the awesome work done by our researchers at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute for the month of March! Keep an eye out for pubs featuring our post docs from April-June of 2023!

Check out the awesome work done by our researchers QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute for the month of February! Keep an eye out for pubs featuring our post docs from March-June of 2023!

Welcome to our new monthly publication series where we will be highlighting the amazing work done by researchers at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Stay tuned for more publications featuring our post docs from February - June of 2023!

It’s been more than 18 months since we updated our group photo! We would now like to introduce the current members of PAQ and we thank previous members who worked so hard to represent the EMCRs at . Current members are Behnam Rashidieh, Brittany Mitchell, Catherine Gordon, Daniel Rawle, Deepani Fernando, Jodie Painter, Kartik Iyer, Kevin Hendrawan, Lachlan Harris, Nathan Stevenson, Nina Na, Olga Kondrashova (Chair), Penelope Lind, Peter Johansson, Rahul Srivastava, Rebecca Faleiro, Simon Foster, Yan Lu, and Venkat Addala.

This months postdoc profile we have Dr Jue Sheng Ong!

Who are you?

I am Jue Sheng Ong, a postdoctoral research officer working on various human complex diseases, within the QIMR Statistical genetics laboratory.
My research focus on two main themes, understanding genetically heterogenous diseases and application of genetic causal inference models in diverse populations.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently developing models to study how we can characterise and interpret polygenic risk in genetically admixed individuals for various eye diseases.

Where you can find out more about the research/researcher?

You can find more about my research at my QIMR webpage:
https://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/people/jue-sheng-ong/

or my google scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=Fh7Aeh8AAAAJ&hl=en

Favourite books/movie/TV show:
TV Show – Wild Croc Territory, Little women (KR, Netflix), Ghost surgeon (KR, Netflix), Space Force

Pet profile:
Introducing the calm, collected but demanding, Yoghurt the Malshi (M; 2 y.o.)
and the feisty, naïve but loving, Lychee the Moodle (F; 1.5 y.o.)

[Photos attached. Use whichever that fits]

Favourite hobby:
Peer-revi.. just kidding. Being pup-daddy for the two little ones and go on road trips.

Congratulations Catherine! Very well deserved…👏👏👏

‘Schistosomiasis is one of the most neglected tropical diseases, but its impact – particularly on young children – is devastating and profound. More research is desperately needed to control the disease in some of the world’s poorest communities.”

Dr Catherine Gordon is among a team of dedicated QIMR Berghofer researchers working to eliminate schistosomiasis, a persistent disease caused by parasitic worms which disproportionately affects impoverished regions. And in well-deserved recognition, she and her colleagues have just been awarded for their efforts.

The researchers received the TropicalMed 2022 John M Goldsmid Award for a paper led by Dr Gordon, which documented the burden of schistosomiasis in Asia and highlighted prospects for controlling and eliminating the disease.

It’s a goal made challenging by the lack of global funding and research attention given to schistosomiasis, but QIMR Berghofer is incredibly proud to support a dedicated research team committed to fighting neglected parasitic worm diseases.

A massive congratulations to Dr Gordon and her colleagues on the award! To read the paper, visit: https://bit.ly/3Cugusy

The sixth QIMR Berghofer Postdoctoral Forum could not have been held today without the generous support of our sponsors! Thank you to our Gold Sponsors (BioLegend, CSL, and Pathtech) and Silver Sponsors (, bio-strategy, , Decode Science, , Labcabs, Miltenyi Biotec, , , and Tecan).

We are looking forward to hosting the Sixth Postdoctoral Forum today! We have an exciting schedule lined up with flash talks, breakout discussions, and speed networking. We will also get to know the Corporate Affairs and Fundraising Team who can help you communicate and promote your research. We hope you can stay till 5 PM and enjoy the drinks reception. See you there!

For this weeks ECR seminar we have Dr Ismail Sebina from the Respiratory Immunology Laboratory Berghofer. Dr Sebina will discuss the effects of maternal dietary lifestyles in on development in the newborn. Dr Sebina will highlight the consequences a poor maternal diet in pregnancy on increased susceptibility to severe lower respiratory infections in infancy.

For more, follow Dr Sebina on twitter or check out the following links.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ismail-sebina-phd-13842790/

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3232-3472

For today’s ECR seminar we have Dr Prahlad Raninga from the Signal Transduction Lab at Berghofer. Dr Raninga’s talk today will present a novel combination therapy for aggressive MYC oncogene-driven ovarian carcinomas, and will show that an FDA-approved drug auranofin exerts a significant -cancer activity in combination with metabolism inhibitor in the experimental models of MYC-driven ovarian .

For more follow Dr Raninga on twitter or check out the following link.

www.linkedin.com/in/prahlad-raninga-3047a2125

For Today’s ECR seminar we have Dr Kevin Hendrawan from the Drug Mechanism/Drug Discovery Group at Berghofer. Today Dr Hendrawan will be talking about how the immune system may be “rebooted” in autoimmune disease patients using autologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation. Dr Hendrawan will also show that this treatment causes significant changes to immune cells, known as T cells, which may be important in reducing disease activity in patients with severe autoimmune disease.

For more, checkout Dr Hendrawan’s linked in at the link below.
https://au.linkedin.com/in/kevin-hendrawan-99084355

This month our profile is of Dr Kevin Hendrawn

Who are you?

I am an immuno-biologist in the Drug Discovery and Cancer Drug Mechanisms Group at Berghofer. As a researcher, I’m primarily driven by my curiosity for the immune system, which we now know is connected to many aspects of our health, including cancer biology and even mental health. This passion has led me to various immunology projects throughout my career, from studying the immune system in live-bearing lizards to autoimmune disease patients undergoing stem cell transplants.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently developing advanced human cell culture systems to discover novel plant-derived immune-modifying therapies for a variety of disease settings.

Where you can find out more about the research?

https://au.linkedin.com/in/kevin-hendrawan-99084355

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kevin-Hendrawan

Favourite books/movie/TV shows?

Movie: Everything everywhere all at once
TV shows: Arcane, Demon Slayer, Stranger Things

Hobbies

On days when I’m not binging my shows, I like to go for short (~5km ish) runs, visit art galleries, and practice a traditional Japanese sword martial art (Katori Shinto Ryu) for fun.

For Friday’s ECR seminar we have Dr Vikas Duhan from the lab at . Dr Duhan will be discussing the YTHDF2-dependent post-transcriptional regulation of antiviral and antitumor T cell immunity, showing the role of YTHDF2 in T cell biology and its implication for improving T cell effector functions.

For more from Dr Duhan check out the following links.

ResearcherID: https://publons.com/wos-op/researcher/1575909/vikas-duhan/

Loop: https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/542578/overview

QIMR: https://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/our-research/infection-and-inflammation/tumour-immunology/

For this weeks ECR seminar we have Dr Behnam Rashidieh from the Signal Transduction laboratory at . Dr Rashidieh will be discussing his work looking at the characterization of an experimental model of Cryab in . His work has shown that the overexpression of this gene can promote and associated with multiple mechanisms.

For more, follow Dr Rashidieh on Twitter or check out the following link;

linkedin.com/in/behnam-rashidieh-7289755a

It's time for another postdoc profile! For June we have Dr Penelope Lind.

Who are you?

I am a Senior Research Officer in the Psychiatric Genetics Group at QIMR Berghofer. While I am a molecular biologist by training, I have been working in the field of statistical genetics for over a decade. I am passionate about understanding how genetic variation influences our risk for developing mental health disorders, and in particular substance use disorders, gambling and other addictive behaviours.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on improving our understanding of the environmental and genetic factors that are associated with treatment response and medication side-effects experienced by individuals living with Bipolar disorder.

Where you can find out more about the research/researcher?
https://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/people/penelope-lind/

Favourite books/movie/TV show atm:

Stranger Things, Superstore, and most Scandinavian crime TV dramas.

Favourite hobby:

As famously sung by Peter Griffin, “bird is the word”! I love practically anything bird related. I started drawing birds for fun in 2014 when I joined an Instagram 100-day drawing challenge with my husband. I then started birding in 2018 and taking photos of the birds I saw so that I could draw them. During the last couple years when we couldn’t travel much thanks to COVID-19 I also started photographing and learning to identify dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies.

Postdoc Profiles!
Our very own member Dr Simon Foster features this month's postdoc profile.

Who are you?
I am a molecular and cardiovascular pharmacologist in the Cardiac Bioengineering Lab at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. I am passionate about understanding how the human body works in health and disease and using this to develop to help patients. In our lab, we use a sophisticated model for the human heart made from stem cells. These miniature heart tissues contract in the lab and enable us to investigate aspects of heart function that are not otherwise possible.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently working to dissect the mechanisms for heart dysfunction due to inflammation e.g. the cytokine storm that occurs in and . I am also really interested in understanding the role of receptor-dependent signalling networks that control heart contraction, which may ultimately lead to better treatments for .

Where you can find out more about the research/researcher?
https://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/people/simon-foster/
Twitter:

Favourite books/movie/TV show atm:
Death in Paradise (more for the paradise than the death)

Pet profile
Name of pet: Wombat
Wombat was named after her mum Possum and we thought we’d run with the theme of Australian animals. She is a bit of a lump, and has grown into her name perfectly! Wombat is a horticulturalist and comedian as she always brings a smile - she loves her basket full of toys and always has one ready to show you, although she is probably more likely relaxing around the house. She also loves going for long walks on the beach but as she insists that everyone on 2 or 4 legs says hello, it can make for a slow journey!

For today’s ECR we have Dr Wei Shi from the Genome Variation and Regulation in Disease laboratory at . Dr Shi will be presenting the role of breast cancer risk genetics in immune surveillance using high throughput functional screens to identify risk genes which act through evasion of killing by T cells.

For more, check out the following link,

https://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/our-research/cancer-research/cancer-geneticsand-genome-variation-and-regulation-in-disease-groups/

For today’s ECR seminar we have Dr Alda Saldan from the Translational Cancer Immunotherapy Lab at . Dr Saldan will will discuss the effects of infection on the graft-versus-leukaemia ( ) effect and will show that infection affects both the phenotype and the host innate & adaptive immune responses, leading to a stronger GvL response after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

For more information check out the links below or follow Dr Saldan on twitter.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alda-Saldan

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alda-saldan/

Postdoc Profiles!

We are starting off our postdoc profile series, which will be a monthly highlight, with the Deputy Chair of the Postdoctoral Association of QIMRB (PAQ) with Dr Daniel Rawle.

Who are you?
I am virologist in the Inflammation Biology lab at QIMR. I work on many viruses in high biocontainment facilities, such as SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 virus), HIV, Chikungunya virus, Ross River virus and Zika virus.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on unravelling mechanisms of virus replication and disease, such as acute and long COVID, and Chikungunya virus arthritis. We also test vaccines, antivirals and anti-inflammatories against various viruses.

Where you can we follow you to find out more about the research?
https://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/people/daniel-rawle/
Twitter:

Favourite books/movie/TV show atm:
Inventing Anna, Snowpiercer and Superstore

Pet profile
Name of pet: Winter and Winston
Winter and Winston are inseparable, high energy, aquatic mammals (a.k.a golden retrievers). Winston can hear the cheese packet open from a mile away, and will make his way swiftly to the kitchen to beg for a taste. Winter is an avid gardener and mulcher, ripping branches from our trees and chewing them into small pieces. They are the reason my pants are usually covered in white fibers of joy.

For tomorrow’s ECR seminar we have Dr Patrick Wang from the Susceptibility laboratory at . Dr Wang will be speaking about expansion of their (Endometrial Cancer Association Consortium) dataset to include new endometrial cancer cases from four biobanks in a meta-analysis of 17,278 cases and 172,199 cancer-free controls and identified five new endometrial cancer susceptibility loci. New loci are being integrated with functional genomic data to prioritise potential genes for experimental analysis.

For more follow Dr Wang over on twitter