Monash BDI success in 2018 ARC funding announcement
Researchers at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) have been awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellowship and two ARC Future Fellowships worth more than $4.5 million.
Professor James Whisstock, Monash BDI researcher, Scientific Head of EMBL Australia, and Scientific Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, received one of two ARC Laureate Fellowships awarded to Monash.
Professor Whisstock’s research is focused on immunity, blood coagulation and developmental biology. With the support of the roughly $2.9 million Laureate Fellowship funding, Professor Whisstock will develop new molecular imaging approaches to investigate how a model organism, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, controls the development of the head and tail of the embryo.
Monash BDI researchers Professor Jose Polo and Dr Traude Beilharz were each successful in securing ARC Future Fellowships, totalling almost $1.8 million.
Dr Beilharz’s project aims to understand the fundamental mechanisms of gene expression control, by exploring how cells respond to acute perturbation with changes to RNA expression and processing. Unlike the static information encoded within the genome, the information encoded in its intermediary RNA is transient, plastic and responsive to environmental and developmental cues. The project will use new technologies encompassing RNA-biochemistry, Next Generation Sequencing and bioinformatics to answer long-standing questions in RNA processing.
Professor Polo’s project aims to use stem cells and genomics-based technologies, in combination with new computational algorithms, to understand the fundamental molecular events that drive the first steps during development. The project is expected to unveil the basic mechanisms underpinning how genes driving the developmental master plan are controlled in cells that have the capacity to give rise to the whole organism and placenta.
Professor John Carroll, Director of the Monash BDI, congratulated the successful researchers.
“On behalf of everyone at the Monash BDI, I would like to congratulate James, Traude and Jose on securing these prestigious fellowships. They are doing amazing research on fundamental problems that will undoubtedly have a major impact in years to come. I very much look forward to seeing the innovative new research that these projects will generate,” Professor Carroll said.
Across all of Monash University, the ARC announced a total of $26 million in various research awards. This included a further Laureate Fellowship and 13 Future Fellowships, the most of any university in Australia.
Professor Marc Parlange, Provost and Senior Vice-President at Monash, congratulated the researchers on their achievements.
“This is an outstanding result for the university and we’re grateful for this continued investment by the Federal Government into world-leading research at Monash,” Professor Parlange said.
Read more about Monash University’s ARC success, including the full list of Future Fellows and other funding schemes.
Monash is home to Australia's largest network of RNA and mRNA researchers. Keep up to date with our work on life-saving vaccines and therapeutic treatments on our Monash RNA webpage.