Staff profile

Since commencing my PhD studies in 2004 (University of Tasmania), I have had a diverse research career and held a number of positions within different CSIRO divisions. Indeed, following PhD graduation, I completed two postdoctoral fellowships in the divisions of Livestock Industries, and Animal, Food and Health Sciences, both positions based at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong. Next, I transitioned to a Research Scientist position within the Health and Biosecurity business unit (still in Geelong), until April 2017 when I took up my current Senior Research Scientist and Team Leader role in the Aquaculture program of Agriculture and Food, based in Hobart.

At its core my research career has focused on increasing our understanding of infectious disease processes with the view of mitigating disease in human and animal production systems. My research spans basic investigations of the host-pathogen interaction and pathogenesis, to pathogen characterisation and surveillance, and finally the application of therapeutic control strategies to combat infectious diseases. In most cases I have addressed these focus areas using a combination of omic’s based approaches with more traditional molecular biology, cell biology, and microscopy methods. My position at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory enabled me to focus my research efforts on significant pathogens that cross the animal-human barrier, zoonosis. This included the bacterial pathogen Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, and bat borne viral pathogens Hendra and Ebola virus.

My current research is focused on mitigating the impact of aquatic animal diseases in aquaculture, with a major focus on amoebic gill disease in Atlantic salmon. Drawing upon my diverse and multidisciplinary research expertise, I am focused on employing novel approaches to identify pathogenic determinates of aquatic diseases, and design rational therapeutic treatments.