State/New Zealand Representatives
State and New Zealand representatives promote the society and its activities by fostering local communities, recruiting new members and sharing local news with our national membership base. State and New Zealand representatives also organise local scientific meetings of the society, which are vital for cell biologists and developmental biologists to meet, share cutting-edge science and support career development.
Australian Capital Territory
Teresa Bonello
Australian National University
Dr Theresa Bonello is a Research Fellow based at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at ANU. Dr Bonello has a long-standing interest in how cells polarise and respond to mechanical cues. Teresa uses epithelial models from flies to organoids and provides fundamental insight into conserved signalling pathways central to development and cancer.
Twitter @DrTeresaBonello
Web Thompson-Group
Rachel Woodhouse
Australian National University
Dr Rachel Woodhouse is a Research Fellow based at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at ANU. Dr Woodhouse applies expertise in epigenetics to target mechanisms of immune evasion in cancer and overcome resistance to chemotherapy.
Twitter @rachelinthelab
Web Burr-Group
New South Wales
Dr. V. Pragathi Masamsetti
Children’s Medical Research Institute
Dr. Masamsetti is a post-doctoral researcher in the Embryology Unit. Her research is focused on understanding the spatial and temporal gene regulation of early embryo development.
Twitter @PMasamsetti
Dr. James Burchfield
University of Sydney
Dr Burchfield is a highly experienced cell biologist who currently heads the Molecular Imaging group at the Charles Perkins Centre located at the University of Sydney and who is internationally recognised for his work on Akt signalling, insulin resistance and live-cell microscopy
Twitter @jimmib_78
Queensland
Sean Coakley
University of Queensland
Dr Sean Coakley is a group leader at the School of Biomedical Sciences at UQ. His lab is focused on discovering the cellular mechanisms that protect the nervous system from mechanical strain, using C. elegans as a model.
Twitter @stcoakley @coakleylab
Web coakleylab.com
Merja Joensuu
QBI, University of Queensland
Dr Joensuu is an ARC DECRA fellow investigating the molecular mechanisms of neuronal communication.
Twitter @joensuumerja
South Australia
Genevieve Secker
CCB, University of South Australia
Dr Genevieve Secker is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Cancer Biology/UniSA. Her research focusses on regulators of cardiovascular development with a special interest in lymphatic vessel development and disease.
Yasmyn Winstanley
University of Adelaide
Dr Winstanley is a postdoctoral researcher in the Ovarian Cell Biology group. Her research focusses on cellular mechanisms that regulate the first five days of embryo development.
Twitter YEWinstanley
Tasmania
Jessica Fletcher
University of Tasmania
Dr Fletcher studies molecular mechanisms that stimulate oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination, and is currently using iPSCs to identify causes of brain dysfunction in MS.
Twitter @FletcherJL
Web Jessica Fletcher
Lorenzo Odierna
University of Tasmania
Dr Lorenzo Odierna is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tasmania. He studies the cell and molecular mechanisms that underlie stable functioning of the nervous system.
Twitter @lorenzo_odierna
Victoria
Gonzalo del Monte Nieto
Monash University
Dr. Del Monte focuses his research on the molecular mechanisms and developmental processes orchestrating heart development, as well as the translation of this knowledge into congenital and adult heart disease, and cardiac regeneration.
Twitter Gonzalo del Monte Nieto
Web Del Monte-Nieto Group
Maria Tanzer
WEHI
Dr. Tanzer applies high-sensitivity proteomics to investigate signalling that regulates cell death and the removal of dead cells during inflammation.
Twitter Maria_Tanzer
Web Tanzer_lab
Western Australia
David Martino
Group Leader, Clinical Epigenetics
Telethon Kids Institute
David is a biomedical research scientist, trained in molecular biology and human immunology.
He currently leads the Clinical Epigenetics team at Telethon Kids Institute, who are focused on understanding the links between child health and development and the molecular hallmarks of epigenetic control.
Twitter: @D_J_Martino
Web David Martino
Liisa Hirvonen
University of Western Australia
Dr Hirvonen is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia. In addition to her own research in molecular mechanobiology of cell adhesions, she looks after the Optical Microscopy Platform in the Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis (CMCA) core facility.
Web Liisa Hirvonen
New Zealand
Laura Gumy
University of Otago
Dr Laura Gumy is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago. Dr Gumy’s research focusses on intracellular transport processes and cytoskeletal remodelling in neurons. These are fundamental pathways that when impaired can lead to neuronal dysfunction or nerve regeneration deficits. The Gumy lab uses live imaging, biochemical and genetic methods to identify and interrogate molecular interactions with a role in neural repair.
Twitter @lauragumy
Web Laura Gumy
Louise Bicknell
University of Otago
Associate Professor Louise Bicknell is a molecular geneticist, focused on identifying and characterising rare genetic disorders of growth and development in children. Her lab uses both sequence data and cell-based experiments to understand consequences of novel human genetic variants, aiming to help affected families get answers and knowledge.
Twitter @bicknell_l
Web Louise Bicknell