MIPS Seminar Program

MIPS seminar program 2025

The 2025 MIPS seminar program.

Date	Presenter	Title	Host	Venue
19 February	Professor Sarah-Maria Fendt KU Leuven, Belgium	Metabolic rewiring driving metastasis formation	Professor Mark Febbraio	Lecture Theatre 3
12 March	Professor Juliet Gerrard University of Auckland, NZ	A Front Row Seat: Lessons Learned at the Intersection of Science, Policy, and Politics	Associate Professor Nicholas Veldhuis	Lecture Theatre 3
17 March	Dr David Kang Halozyme Therapeutics	Subcutaneous drug delivery: So what’s the big deal?	Professor Christopher Porter	Lecture Theatre 3
11 April	Professor Alessio Ciulli University of Dundee, UK	Protein degraders: New insights and twists of molecular mechanism and drug design	Senior Lecturer Manuela Jorg	Lecture Theatre 3
7 May	Professor Junle Qu Shenzhen University, China	High spatiotemporal resolution multimodal in vivo optical microscopy	Dr Bo Peng	Lecture Theatre 3
21 May	Dr Karla Seaman ConnectAbility and Macquarie University	Unlocking synergies: Practice-based pharmacy research in aged care and disability	Professor Simon Bell	Lecture Theatre 3
18 July	Meet the emerging leaders MIPS	Dr. Anida Velagic (Drug Discovery Biology) Boosting endogenous cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) to treat cardiovascular disease Dr. Carlo Giannangelo (Drug Delivery Disposition & Dynamics) Discovering new, irresistible medicines for malaria with metabolomics and proteomics Dr. Alene Yong (Centre for Medicine Use and Safety) Closing the Gap Between Evidence and Practice: My Journey Across Settings	Associate Professor Ben Capuano	Lecture Theatre 3
4 July	Professor Colin Sutherland LSHTM, UK	Preparing for the next generation of malaria chemotherapeutics – Adventures with Plamsodium knowlesi and P. falciparum	Professor Darren Creek	Lecture Theatre 1
8 July	Professor Daniel K. Nomura UC Berkeley, USA	Reimagining Druggability using Chemoproteomic Platforms	Professor Arthur Christopoulos	Online
16 July	Cathy Sertori Creative Advocacy Solutions	Patients as partners: Transforming healthcare pathways through purposeful engagement - An industry perspective	Natalie Diepenhorst	Lecture Theatre 3
23 July	Dr Tatiana Pinedo Rivera Monash	Introducing Lab Sustainability: Practical Principles Through Grassroots and Leadership Collaboration	Associate Professor Lauren May	Lecture Theatre 3
6 August	Dr Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan UNSW Sydney	Uncovering the rules underlying mitochondrial volume homeostasis	Senior Lecturer Amandeep Kaur	Lecture Theatre 3
27 August	Professor Thomas Preiss Australian National University	Scientific travels around mRNA	Professor Colin Pouton	Lecture Theatre 3
15 October	Professor Rebecca Ritchie MIPS	Adventures in therapies for the diabetic heart	Professor Chris Porter	Lecture Theatre 3
12 November	Professor Denise Wootten MIPS	Nadine Watson Lecture: Targeting class b1 GPCRs for metabolic diseases	Professor Mark Febbraio	Lecture Theatre 1
2 December	Program	MIPS Research Symposium 2025

MIPS seminar program 2024

The 2024 MIPS seminar program.

Date	Presenter	Title	Host	Venue	Master Class Chair
22 January	Professor Caroline Sirois Université Laval	Exploring polypharmacy through the lens of public health: A perspective on AI-driven research	Senior Lecturer Justin Turner	Lecture Theatre 3	-
5 February	Associate Professor Tim Phoenix University of Cincinnati	Leveraging pediatric brain tumor mouse models for genetic and preclinical discovery	Associate Professor Joseph Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3	Dr. Aaron Day
16 February	Professor Kelly Chibale University of Cape Town	Drug Repositioning And Mycobacterium Tuberculosis-Mediated Drug Metabolism In Tuberculosis Drug Discovery	Associate Professor Darren Creek	Lecture Theatre 3	Dr. Aaron Day
6 March	Meet the Emerging Leaders MIPS	Dr Amandeep Kaur (Med Chem), Unveiling Nanoscale Secrets of Biological Systems Using Fluorescent Probes Dr Justin Turner (CMUS), Getting patients to stop taking inappropriate medications should be easy, right? Dr Jie Tang (D4), Nanoadjuvant: From Nanocarriers to Immunomodulators	Associate Professor Joseph Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3	-
27 March	Associate Professor Jiangning Song Monash BDI	Artificial intelligence to explore the multi-modality biomedical data and accelerate knowledge discovery	Associate Professor Cornelia Landersdorfer	Lecture Theatre 3	Dr Anh Nguyen
8 May	Professor Kaylene Young UTAS	How does the central nervous system contribute to multiple sclerosis pathophysiology?	Professor Ray Norton	Lecture Theatre 3	Dr Christopher Choy
29 May	Associate Professor Francine Coelho Marques Monash	Leveraging gut microbial metabolites to treat human disease: From discovery to clinical applications	Associate Professor Darren Creek	Lecture Theatre 3	Dr Kali Godbee
19 June	Professor Jennifer Stow IMB, University of Queensland	Entry pathways into and out of cells	Associate Professor Natalie Trevaskis	Lecture Theatre 3	Dr Nicholas Veldhuis
31 July	Dr. Kristoffer Jarlov Denmark - Center for Clinical Research and Prevention	A guided tour through the world of registry-based health research: destination Denmark	Professor Simon Bell	Lecture Theatre 3	Miriam Leung
7 August	Associate Professor Gabriele Schiattarella Charité University Medical Center	The Metabolic Landscape of HFpEF	Professor Rebecca Ritchie	Lecture Theatre 3	TBA
14 August	Professor Kim Brouwer University of North Carolina	Alterations in Hepatic Transporters in Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD): Implications for Drug Disposition, Efficacy, and Safety	Professor Joseph Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3	TBA
11 September	Dr. Russell Tait Monash	TBA	Professor Joseph Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3	TBA
2 October	Dr. Pranesh Padmanabhan UQ	TBA	Professor Carl Kirkpatrick	Lecture Theatre 3	TBA
23 October	Meet the Emerging Leaders MIPS	Dr Nick Barlow (MedChem) - From peptide to drug – overcoming key barriers to peptide based drug development Dr Jed Morton (CMUS) - Creative use of large datasets to improve diabetes outcomes	Professor Joseph Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3	-
13 November	Katya Gray WEHI	TBA	Dr Natalie Diepenhorst	Lecture Theatre 3	Dr Amanda Cross
5 December	Professor Amrita Ahluwalia Queen Mary University of London	TBA	Professor Rebecca Ritchie	Lecture Theatre 3	TBA

MIPS seminar program 2023

The 2023 MIPS seminar program.

Date	Presenter	Title	Host	Venue	Master Class Chair
1 March	Prof Elizabeth New University of Sydney	Multimodal and multivariate approaches to elucidating the chemistry of biological systems	Associate Professor Ben Capuano	Lecture Theatre 1	Dr Jeff Luo
22 March	Meet the Emerging Leaders MIPS	Sam Mostafa (CMUS), Pharmacogenomics – Exploring the impact and challenges for medication optimisation in mental health Dr Dorothy Wai (D4), Developing Kv1.3-targeting peptides as therapeutics for neuroinflammatory diseases Dr John Scott (DDB), Beyond calcium signalling: The emerging role for CaMKK2 as a metabolic sensor	Associate Professor Joseph Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3	-
3 May	Professor Roy Zwahlen UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy	Unlocking innovation: The innovation story in black America and novel approaches to enable innovation and entrepreneurship in underrepresented populations	Dean Professor Arthur Christopoulos	Lecture Theatre 3	Dr Sam McNeill
3 May	Professor Roy Zwahlen UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy	Unlocking innovation: The Australian opportunity	Director MIPS Professor Chris Porter	Lecture Theatre 3	-
24 May	Dr Fei Sim PSA	The role of the future Pharmacist in Advanced Practice	Associate Professor Joseph Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3	Dr Amanda Cross
14 June	Dr Chris Horne WEHIM	Decoding unconventional mechanisms of calcium signalling	Dr John Scott	Lecture Theatre 3
5 July	Dr Edna Choo Genentech	A DMPK scientist journey in unraveling the mysteries of drug disposition	Professor Michelle McIntosh	Lecture Theatre 3
16 August	Professor Richard J. Payne University of Sydney	New technologies for the synthesis, semi-synthesis and biosynthesis of bioactive peptides and proteins	Director MIPS Professor Chris Porter	Lecture Theatre 3
25 August	Professor Sharon Lewin Doherty Institute	The Cumming Centre for pandemic therapeutics: Vision and progress to date	Professor Philip Thompson	Lecture Theatre 3
06 September	Dr Joanne Britto VCCC	The consumer advantage: Progressing from awareness to action	Research Fellow Natalie Diepenhorst	Lecture Theatre 3
28 September	Professor Reuben Shaw Salk Institute in San Diego	Decoding and targeting LKB1/STK11 pathway in lung cancer	Professor Mark Febbraio	Lecture Theatre 2
04 October	Professor Pasquale Maffia University of Glasgow	Immune dysregulation in cardiovascular disease - From novel mechanisms to therapeutic targeting	Senior Research Fellow Helena Qin	Lecture Theatre 3
18 October	Professor Erika Pearce Johns Hopkins University	THE NADINE WATSON LECTURE: Metabolic programming in the maintenance and function of tissue-resident macrophages	Professor Mark Febbraio	Lecture Theatre 3
08 November	Professor Renae Ryan University of Sydney	The twisted link between a dual function glutamate transporter and episodic ataxia	Research Fellow Amandeep Kaur	Lecture Theatre 3
14 November	Meet the Emerging Leaders MIPS	Dr Stanley Xie (D4), Development of novel antimalarials by targeting the proteasome and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Dr Aili Langford (CMUS), Can we use clinical practice guidelines to deprescribe opioids and reduce medication-related harm?	Associate Professor Joseph Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3

MIPS seminar program 2022

The 2022 MIPS seminar program.

Date	Presenter	Title	Host	Venue	Master Class Chair
23 March	Meet the Emerging Leaders MIPS	Dr Tracy Josephs (DDB), A pharmacogenomic and structural-dynamic approach to inform autosomal dominant hypocalcaemia treatment Dr Liam Koehn (D4), The Central Nervous System: Drugs, Development and Disease	A/Prof Joe Nicolazzo	Zoom
4 May	Prof Gary Egan Monash Biomedical Imaging	New research facilities and collaboration opportunities at the Australian Precision Radiopharmaceutical Facility, Monash Biomedical Imaging	Prof Christopher Porter	Lecture Theatre 2
25 May	A/Prof Zanfina Ademi Centre of Medicine Use and Safety, MIPS	Decision Health Economic Modelling to address unmet clinical needs	Prof Simon Bell	Lecture Theatre 1
14 June	A/Prof Misty Jenkins Division of Immunology, WEHI	Immunotherapy is a piece of the puzzle in the treatment of brain cancer	A/Prof Natalie Trevaskis	Lecture Theatre 1	David Nash
16 Aug	Prof Garry Williamson Department, Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash	Bioactive phenolics for health: interaction with the gut	Prof Christopher Porter	Lecture Theatre 1	Dr Benoit Smeuninx
7 September	Prof Wai-Hong Tham Division of Infectious Diseases and Immune Defence, WEHI	Nanobodies for infectious diseases	A/Prof Joseph Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 1	Dr Arisbel Batista Gondin
28 September	Prof Walter Koch Temple University USA	GRK2 and GRK5 in the Heart: A ‘Tail’ of 2 Kinases in Heart Failure	Prof Rebecca Ritchie	Zoom Webinar
19 October	Meet the Emerging Leaders MIPS	Dr Emily Reeve (CMUS), Patient-centred deprescribing and use of clinical practice guidelines to support deprescribing in the real world Dr Daniel Priebbenow (Med Chem), New Photochemical Strategies for Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry	Prof Christopher Porter	Lecture Theatre 1
9 November	Dr Art Beyder Mayo Clinic, USA	Does the gut feel touch?	Dr Simona Carbone	Zoom Webinar
18 November	Prof Michael Karin University of California, San Diego USA	New insights to ER stress, lipid and glucose metabolism: From NASH to insulin resistance and back	Prof Mark Febbraio	Lecture Theatre 1
7 December	Prof Kathryn North Murdoch Children's Research Institute	The Nadine Watson Lecture: The Gene for Speed: ACTN3, athletes and human health	Prof Mark Febbraio	Lecture Theatre 1

MIPS seminar program 2021

Date	Presenter	Topic	Host	Room
24 Mar	A/Prof Bradley Turner The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health	Developing a personalised medicine approach for motor neuron disease	A/Prof Joe Nicolazzo	Webinar
5 May	Prof Kevin Plaxco University of California, Santa Barbara	Counting molecules, dodging blood cells: continuous, real-time molecular measurements directly in the living body	Professor Nico Voelcker	Webinar
26 May	Prof Kirsten Howard The University of Sydney	Using health economic approaches to understand stakeholder preferences	Professor Simon Bell	Webinar
2 Jun	Prof Suresh Sundram Dept Psychiatry, Monash University	Psychiatry in the light of precision medicine: A time for reconsideration	A/Prof Chris Langmead	Webinar
7 Jun	Prof Elga de Vries Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam	Brain barriers in health and disease	A/Prof Joe Nicolazzo	Webinar
3 Aug	Prof Mike Waring Newcastle University, UK	New approaches to hit finding using FragLites and DNA encoded chemical libraries	Professor Peter Scammells	Webinar
18 Aug	Prof Jony Kipnis Washington University	Brain edges at the center of neuro-immune interactions	Professor Chris Porter	Webinar
2 Oct	Prof Ruiping Xiao Peking University	Use of E3 ligase-dead mutants to treat cardiometabolic disease	Dr Helena Qin	Webinar
10 Nov	Prof Andrew Murphy Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute	Haematopoiesis and the bone marrow microenvironment in health and disease	Professor Rebecca Ritchie	Webinar
1 Dec	Prof Christina Mitchell Faculty of Medicine Nursing and health Sciences, Monash University	The role of termination of phosphoinositide signalling in human disease	Professor Arthur Christopoulos	Lecture Theatre 1

MIPS seminar program 2020

Date	Presenter	Topic	Host	Room
21 Feb	Dr Timothy Wells Medicines for Malaria Venture	Lessons from Malaria drug development and how to apply them elsewhere	Professor Sue Charman	Lecture Theatre 1
13 May	Professor Rebecca Ritchie Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences	Introducing the Heart Failure Pharmacology team to MIPS - an overview of our strategies for preserving and restoring the function of the heart in health and disease	Professor Patrick Sexton	Lecture Theatre 3
8 Jul	Dr Chengxue Helena Qin Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical	Targeting an anti-inflammatory pathway against cardiovascular disease	Professor Patrick Sexton	Lecture Theatre 3
5 Aug	Professor Phil Thompson Medicinal Chemistry, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical	Development of dual PI3K/BET bromodomain inhibitors for the treatment of aggressive blood cancers	Professor Peter Scammells	Lecture Theatre 3
19 Aug	Dr Karen Gregory Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical	Harnessing molecular insights into allosteric modulation of glutamate receptor activity to inform neuroscience drug discovery	Professor Rebecca Ritchie	Lecture Theatre 3
30 Sep	Dr Johnson George Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical	Interdisciplinary interventions targeting chronic health conditions in Australian Healthcare Settings	Professor Simon Bell	Lecture Theatre 3
14 Oct	Dr Dale Abel University of Iowa	Novel Mitochondrial Mechanisms for Cardiometabolic Disease	Professor Rebecca Ritchie	Lecture Theatre 3
11 Nov	Professor Doug Green St Jude Children's Research Hospital, USA	LAP and LANDO: Noncanonical functions of autophagy proteins in anti-cancer immunity and Alzheimer's Disease	Professor Mark Febbraio	Lecture Theatre 3
18 Nov	Professor Janelle Ayres The Salk Institute	Host-microbe interactions: Harnessing co-evolution to treat disease	Professor Mark Febbraio	Lecture Theatre 3

MIPS seminar program 2019

Date	Presenter	Topic	Host	Room
13 Feb	Prof Mark Febbraio Drug Discovery Biology, Monash University	Metabolism in Health & Disease	Prof Chris Porter	Lecture Theatre 3
27 Feb	Mr Mark Sullivan Medicines Development for Global Health	Turning our research into medicines: throwing a spotlight on development	Prof Sue Charman	Lecture Theatre 3
13 Mar	Prof Natasha Harvey Centre for Cancer Biology, UniSA	Defining the genetic and developmental basis of human lymphatic vascular disease	Dr Natalie Trevaskis	Lecture Theatre 3
4 Apr	Prof Robert Young Simon Fraser University, Canada	Bone Targeting Pro-drug Conjugates for treatment of Osteoporosis and Other Bone related Conditions	Prof Chris Porter	Lecture Theatre 3
10 Apr	Dr Cornelia Landersdorfer Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash University	Optimising antibiotic therapy against ‘superbugs’: towards precision medicine	Prof Simon Bell	Lecture Theatre 3
22 May	Prof Andrew Scott Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute	Development of novel therapies for brain tumours	A/Prof Joe Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3
5 Jun	Dr Denise Wootten Monash University	Structural and molecular insights into the control of signalling at class B GPCRs	Prof Arthur Christopoulos	Lecture Theatre 3
19 Jun	Dr Ben Capuano Monash University	Antipsychotic Drug Discovery... The Long And Winding Road	Prof Peter Scammells	Lecture Theatre 3
3 Jul	Prof Jonathan Cebon Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute	Antigen targeted cancer therapy in the era of immune checkpoint inhibition	Prof Colin Pouton	Lecture Theatre 3
17 Jul	Prof Steven Petrou Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health	Precision medicine in epilepsy	Prof Ray Norton	Lecture Theatre 3
31 Jul	Prof Grant McArthur Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre	Novel approaches to overcome resistance to BRAF-targeted therapy for melanoma	A/Prof Erica Sloan	Lecture Theatre 3
14 Aug	Prof Glenda Halliday The University of Sydney	Catching Parkinon’s disease – does the evidence stack up?	A/Prof Joe Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3
28 Aug	A/Prof Megan Munsie The University of Melbourne	Clash of hopes: The challenge of managing expectations in stem cell science	Prof Colin Pouton	Lecture Theatre 3
11 Sep	Prof Michael Sailor University of California, San Diego	Treatments of bacterial infections with porous silicon Nanoparticles	Prof Nico Voelcker	Lecture Theatre 3
23 Oct	A/Prof Jonathon Arnold The University of Sydney	Beyond cannabidiol: the discovery of novel cannabis-based therapeutics for drug-resistant epilepsy	A/Prof Joe Nicolazzo	Lecture Theatre 3
6 Nov	Prof Mark von Itzstein Griffith University	Structure-guided inhibitor discovery in targeting clinically-important viruses	Prof Peter Scammells	Lecture Theatre 3
20 Nov	Prof Fabienne Mackay The University of Melbourne	Novel immune checkpoint in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia	Prof Mark Febbraio	Lecture Theatre 1