Dena Lyras
Professor Dena Lyras
Interim Dean of the Sub-Faculty of Biomedical Sciences
Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor Dena Lyras is the Interim Dean, Sub-Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Director, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI).
Professor Lyras brings leadership experience and research excellence to this role. She was appointed as Deputy Director of the Monash BDI and the President of the Australian Society of Microbiology in 2018, holding the latter position until 2020. An eminent research authority on gut pathogens and antimicrobial resistance, Professor Lyras has received more than $22 million in competitive Commonwealth and industry grants and has published 171 papers with more than 11,250 citations.
In 2010, Professor Lyras established the Lyras Lab within the BDI to conduct research on gut microbes and how they cause diseases, and has since worked with industry partners to develop non-antibiotic treatment strategies. The Lyras Lab has been recognised globally for discoveries that have transformed understanding of gut infections, and for developing methods and strains which have become influential tools for research in this field around the world.
As a researcher, Professor Lyras has made significant contributions to our understanding of enteric pathogens, particularly those involved in antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. Her team investigates how these pathogens interact with the host to cause disease, applying cutting-edge genetic tools to uncover the regulatory and hostile mechanisms that underpin infection.
Professor Lyras completed her PhD in microbial genetics and antimicrobial resistance at LaTrobe University before joining Monash, where she expanded her research program to encompass a broad and influential portfolio across microbiology and infectious diseases – funded through the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council, industry and philanthropy.
In recognition of her outstanding research contributions, Professor Lyras became the first academic woman in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences to receive the Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship in 2021. She also received the prestigious BacPath Oration Award in 2022 and the Australian Society for Microbiology Distinguished Orator Award in 2023, and was appointed as a Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor in 2024.
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Contact
Meg Lukies
Executive Assistant
T: +61 3 9902 4381
E: meg.lukies@monash.edu