Dr Anastasios (Tash) Polyzos
Director
Dr Polyzos is an expert in synthetic organic chemistry and flow chemistry.
Dr Polyzos has the background and capacity to establish enduring links with industry, both nationally and internationally. He has successfully led complex industry projects and has directed a strong research program in fundamental organic chemistry. Dr Polyzos has experience in the supervision of large teams of professional scientists and post-doctoral fellows. He has developed a strong reputation for entrepreneurship and leadership in his industry collaborations, and has a growing academic reputation for research.
Dr Polyzos holds a joint appointment with the University of Melbourne and CSIRO Manufacturing.
His cross-sector experience and management skills mean that he is well-placed to serve Centre Director and ensure implementation of the Centre’s strategy.
Dr Aaron Gosling
Aaron is the Centre Coordinator for the University of Melbourne node and its primary contact. He is passionate applying science for real-world outcomes in both industry and academia, with experience in biofuels, agriculture, enzyme chemistry and fermentation.
A/Prof Georgina Such
Dr Georgina Such is a senior lecturer in the School of Chemistry at The University of Melbourne. She runs a research team looking into synthesis and application of functional materials. Research Interests – Nanotechnology – Polymers and Self-Assembly – Biomedical Engineering.
Prof Craig Hutton
Craig Hutton obtained his BSc(Hons) and PhD degrees from the University of Adelaide before appointments at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney. He returned to Melbourne in 2003 where he is now Associate Professor. His research interests include the synthesis of biologically active cyclic peptide natural products, the use of organoboron reagents in synthesis and the study of beta-amyloid peptides in the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Craig is also the Course Coordinator for the Master of Industrial Research at the University of Melbourne.
Prof Greg Qiao
Greg Qiao is Professor of Macromolecular Chemistry and Engineering and Assistant Dean (Research) in the Melbourne School of Engineering. He is also a Deputy Head of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
His current Research Activities include:
Environmental Engineering – Greenhouse Gas Recovery
Nano and Biomolecular Engineering – Nanostructured Materials, Tissue Engineering
Materials and Minerals Engineering – Polymer Science
The research interests of Greg Qiao are in the area of synthetic polymer science and engineering. His research applies various polymerization techniques, including controlled free radical polymerizations, to synthesize novel polymeric architectures, biodegradable and functional polymers. His industrial research is in the synthesis of the nanogels for automotive coatings and the novel hydrogels for biological separations. The research in biopolymers is focused on applications in tissue engineering.
Greg leads an internationally recognized Polymer Science Group in the Department and is currently the president of the Victorian Polymer Group under Royal Australia Chemical Institute. He is also a project leader of the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) and CRC for Polymers.
Prof Uta Wille
The Wille group's research aims to extend general and fundamental knowledge of the role of atmospheric pollutants on the free-radical induced oxidative stress. This may lead to the development of novel drugs with the ability to step into and hold up these processes. Radical induced oxidative damage is also responsible for the degradation of manufactured polymers, such as plastics. We are interested to explore the fundamental steps of polymer degradation, which has not been fully understood at all – despite the heavy reliance of our society on polymer materials.
Our research activities focus on the areas of free radicals in organic synthesis and bio-organic and material chemistry; the development of new synthetic methodology and studies of reaction mechanisms; computational chemistry for mechanistic studies and the design of new reactions; and investigation of the adverse effects of atmospheric free-radical oxidants on biological and manufactured materials using product and kinetic studies.
Prof Paul Donnelly
The Donnelly Group focuses on the application of synthetic inorganic/organic chemistry to biology and materials science. In particular, we are interested in the application of coordination complexes as diagnostic or therapeutic agents. Our multidisciplinary research involves inorganic and organic synthesis followed by characterization utilizing a wide range of analytical techniques including: multinuclear NMR, electronic, and EPR spectroscopies, mass spectrometry, HPLC, electrochemical techniques and X-ray crystallography. Exploratory synthetic coordination chemistry and the design and isolation of new metal complexes underpins all of our research. Some projects aim to design new metal-based radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic imaging and therapy of cancer. We also have programs aimed at developing new molecular agents for the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Motor Neuron Disease. Other research in the group focuses on developing methods for bioconjugation of metal complexes to peptide, proteins and antibodies. We also have an interest in the use of metal complexes in organic synthesis.
Dr Milena Czyz
Dr Czyz joined the Centre in 2018 as a post-doctoral researcher. She is a synthetic organic chemist and will lead industry engagement in photoredox catalysis and flow chemistry.
Prof Gavin Reid
The focus of the Reid group is on research to develop bioanalytical mass spectrometry and associated chemical and biochemical analysis strategies for proteome and lipidome characterization, and their application toward understanding the role of proteins (particularly those containing post translational modifications) and lipids in disease, including cancer, diabetes and diabetic complications.
Areas of interest:
Bioanalytical chemistry
Lipidomics
Proteomics
Mass spectrometry
Technology development
Colorectal cancer
Techniques
Mass spectrometry
Chromatography
Cell culture
Organic synthesis
Peptide synthesis
Prof Laura Parry
Prof Laura Parry is a teaching & research academic in the School of Biosciences and Associate Dean Research & Industry (Faculty of Science) at The University of Melbourne, Australia. She has over 25 year’s experience and is internationally renowned in relaxin research, with particular expertise in reproductive and vascular physiology. Her research team currently studies mechanisms of relaxin action in the context of reproductive health and cardiovascular disease, with national and international collaborators at Monash University (Australia), the University of Florida (USA) and Novartis Pharma AG (Switzerland). In the last 5 years, Laura has received significant funding through nationally competitive grants (ARC Linkage, NH&MRC) and international grants (NIH, March of Dimes) totalling $4.7 million and now heads the Vascular Physiology and Reproduction research group in her Faculty.
Prof Spencer Williams
Spencer Williams obtained his BSc and PhD (under the supervision of Professor Bob Stick) at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Following receipt of his PhD in 1998, he was an Izaac Walton Killam Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Professor Stephen G Withers at the University of British Columbia, Canada, where he worked on glycosidase inhibitors. In 2000 he moved to the USA where he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation in the laboratory of Professor Carolyn Bertozzi, based at the University of California, Berkeley.
He joined the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne in 2002. His current interests include the application of chemical synthesis, and in particular carbohydrate chemistry, to biological problems, and the development of new therapeutic agents for treatment of cardiovascular disease, pain and fibrosis in the treatment of diabetes. He is a co-author of a textbook, Carbohydrates: The essential molecules of life (by RV Stick and SJ Williams, 2009, Elsevier), and a co-founder of the company Fibrotech Therapeutics.
Prof Mark Rizzacasa
Prof Rizzacasa’s overarching goal is the total synthesis of complex natural products. These natural products may originate from a variety of sources or exhibit a variety of biological activity, however what draws them to us is their structural complexity, and the greater the complexity, the better! Through our endeavours we hope to develop original synthetic routes, confirm biosynthetic origin and synthesise meaningful quantities to enable rigorous biological studies.
Prof Paul Mulvaney
Paul Mulvaney is Professor of Chemistry in the School of Chemistry and Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne. He received his PhD degree at the University of Melbourne in 1989, working on surface electron transfer reactions with Professor Franz Grieser. He has worked as a research associate at the ANU Applied Maths Department (1988-89) and the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago in 1986-87, 88. He was appointed as a research scientist at the Hahn-Meitner-Institute for Nuclear Research in Berlin from 1989-1992 with Professor Arnim Henglein, where he studied pulse radiolysis and the nucleation of nanocrystals. In 1993 he returned to the University of Melbourne as an ARC QEII Research Fellow, and he accepted a Faculty position in 1997. In 1999, he spent time in Palo Alto with Quantum Dot Corporation. He was a Humboldt Research Fellow in 2000 at the Max-Planck Insitute for Colloids and Surfaces in Golm with Professor Markus Antonietti, and again in 2005 at the CAESAR Nanotechnology Institute in Bonn with Professor Michael Giersig. Between 2006 and 2010 he was an ARC Federation Fellow and from 2011 to 2015, he was an ARC Laureate Fellow. In 2009, Mulvaney was made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and in 2014 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK. He currently chairs the National Committee for Chemistry.
His current interests include the optical properties of single quantum dots, surface plasmon spectroscopy of single metal particles, nanocrystal based electronics, nanomechanics and solar energy conversion. To date he has published some 250 scientific papers averaging around 100 citations per publication. The Nanoscience Laboratory at the University of Melbourne focuses on the chemistry and physics of nanoscale materials, particularly optical properties. The Laboratory has 4 postdoctoral researchers and 12 PhD students and group members come from numerous countries including Brazil, Venezuela, Germany, US, Singapore and Canada. Current funding comes from the Australian Research Council (ARC), DEST, Humboldt Foundation in Germany, ICI (UK) and the Ludwig Cancer Institute. The NSL collaborates with a number of Australian and international centres including the Technical University and the Frei University (Berlin), CSIRO, CSIC Madrid (Spain), Notre Dame (US), Padua (Italy), University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado and Bayreuth University, Germany
Professor Mulvaney currently serves as an Associate Editor for the journal ACS Nano and is a member of the editorial advisory boards of Advanced Functional Materials, NanoToday, Journal of Physical Chemistry, Langmuir and PCCP. From 2009-2011, he was Chair of the RACI Colloid and Surface Chemistry Division. In 2016, he became Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science.
Prof Jonathan White
The research interests of the White group focus on:
Physical organic chemistry: Applications of the Structure Correlation principle, where the early stages of organic reactions can be mapped out in the solid state. Isolation and structural characterisation of reactive intermediates.
Radiopharmaceuticals: Organic molecules labeled with radioactive nuclei for PET imaging of hypoxic tissue, and in combination with antitumour antibodies in radioimmunotherapy.
Conductive polymers : Synthesis and characterisations of novel conductive polymers for biosensing agents, LED/LECs.
Dr Francesca Cavalieri
Dr Francesca Cavalieri is a Future Fellow in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, at The University of Melbourne. She received a Laurea degree ‘maxima cum laude,’ in Industrial Chemistry in 1995 from the University of Rome La Sapienza. She completed her PhD in the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne in 2014. From 1998 to 2002, Dr Cavalieri was employed as a scientist at ENEA (Italian Agency for New Technologies, Environment and Energy), Italy. She has been a tenured Assistant Professor and lecturer in Polymer Science in the Department of Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ Italy since 2002. She has received a number of international research fellowships including Victorian Research Fellowship, ARC Linkage Fellowship, and the Australian Endeavour Fellowship.
Prof Frank Caruso
Prof Frank Caruso is a Melbourne Laureate Professor and an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow at The University of Melbourne, Australia. He is also Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence on Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology. He received his PhD degree in 1994 from The University of Melbourne, and then undertook postdoctoral work at the CSIRO Division of Chemicals and Polymers in Melbourne from 1994-1996. He was an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow and group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces from 1997 until 2002.
His research interests focus on developing advanced nano- and biomaterials for biotechnology and medicine. He is an Executive Editor of Chemistry of Materials and is on the Editorial Advisory Boards of eleven other journals. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2009 and of the Royal Society of London in 2018.