Professor Christopher Greening

EXPERTISE

  • Microbiology
  • Biochemistry
  • Ecology
  • One health
  • Integration of AMR research in a ‘one health’ framework

Professor Chris Greening and his team use a microbe-centric approach to tackle three central problems threatening human sustainability: drug-resistant infections, global climate change, and biodiversity loss. At the core of the program is understanding the metabolic basis of microbial persistence and antimicrobial resistance. His laboratory integrates various approaches to gain an understanding of these processes at the molecular, cellular, and ecosystem scales. This diversity of approaches is supported by an excellent team of research fellows and students, as well as collaborations with various national and international leaders.

Chris leads the One Health Microbiology group in Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute. A first-class biochemistry graduate at the University of Oxford, he subsequently gained experience in microbiology, ecology, and genomics during his PhD at the University of Otago and postdoctoral fellowship at CSIRO. A former ARC DECRA Fellow, he is currently an NHMRC Emerging Leader 2 Fellow and was awarded the Australian Academy of Science's Fenner Medal in 2022. He is a CI on several large research-to-action projects, including 'RISE: Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments', the 'Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases', and 'SAEF: Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future'. He also heads the Biomedicine Discovery Institute's 'Health in a Changing World' program and is a strategic theme leader for the Australian Society for Microbiology.

AMR FOCUS 

  • What factors control the antimicrobials arm race? Gaining a genome-resolved understanding of AMR genes and antibiotic biosynthesis genes in natural, host-associated, and built environments.
  • Investigating environmental factors that control gene expression and the energy sources that power their synthesis.
  • Treating persistent mycobacterial infections (tuberculosis and nontuberculous emerging pathogens)?
  • Mode-of-action and mechanisms of resistance to anti-tubercular drugs and exploring novel targets.
  • Monitoring and reducing AMR in developing settings by engaging with RISE with advanced molecular technologies.
  • Combating childhood diarrhoea in Asia-Pacific communities.

IMPACT

  • Knowledge gain on the molecular basis, ecological distribution, and environmental drivers of AMR.
  • Developing unified AMR testing protocols for human, environmental, food, and agricultural reservoirs.
  • Inform and assess interventions to reduce enteropathogen and AMR in developing countries.

CENTRE LEADERSHIP

  • Head: Centre to Impact AMR R&D Facility - Surveillance Unit