Events
Through knowledge exchange, collaboration and advocacy, our BABS Seminar Series will educate and empower audiences to improve lives and create real change.
BABS Seminar Series 2026
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More information is available for BABS staff and research students on the .
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| Date | Time | Venue | Speaker | Title |
| 5-Feb-26 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Professor Terry Cumming, Deputy Head of School, School of Education, ADA Education Fellow, UDL, Academic Lead Education, Disability Innovation Institute, Deputy Director and Fellow, Scientia Education Academy | An Explanation and Exploration of the Inclusive Teaching Toolkit |
| 11-Feb-26 | 11am-12pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27)Ìý | Associate Professor Ozren Bogdanovic, Principal Investigator at Andalusian Center for Developmental Biology (CABD), Seville, Spain; Adjunct Assoc. Prof BABS | Beyond the CpG: Dissecting the Functions of Atypical DNA Methylation in Animal Development |
| 12-Feb-26 | 1-2pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27)Ìý | Alexander Kelly & Saba Altaf - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Alexander - Engineering Biotic-Abiotic Interfaces for Electrical Communication with Bacteria Ìý Saba - Subcellular localisation and functional analysis of long non-coding RNAs in the brain |
| 19-Feb-26 | 3-4pm | Civil Engineering 102 | Professor Elitza Tocheva, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada | Diversity and evolution of the bacterial cell envelope |
| 26-Feb-26 | 3-4pm | Patricia O'Shane G02, Patricia O'Shane Building (E19)ÌýÌý | Prof Jeff Errington, ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney | Role of a plasmid segregation protein in a major bacterial evolutionary shift |
| 5-Mar-26 | 1-2pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27)Ìý | Sonia Goozee & Marie Miller - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Sonia - The Execution of a Bloody Fate: CpG Methylation as a Mechanism for Regulating GATA1 Binding and Activity in Red Blood Cell Progenitors Ìý Marie - A universal probe system with superior flexibility for maximising real-time quantitative PCR multiplex capacity: application in molecular diagnostics |
| 11-Mar-26 | 1-2pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27)Ìý | Dr Federico Gaiti, Scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Assistant Professor at University of Toronto, Department of Medical Biophysics | Tracing pathogenic cell states and clonal trajectories: lessons from cancer and autoimmunity |
| 19-Mar-26 | 3-4pm | Patricia O'Shane G02, Patricia O'Shane Building (E19)ÌýÌý | Professor Peter Todd, Sackett Endowed Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Neurology, University of Michigan | Short Tandem Repeats in Neuronal Function and Human Disease |
| 2-Apr-26 | 1-2pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27)Ìý | Nicola Karakatsanis - BABS PhD Exit SeminarÌý | A Matter of Marks: the phospho-regulation of the yeast histone demethylase Rph1p |
| 7-May-26 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Thomas Zammit & J King Chang - BABS PhD Exit SeminarÌý | Thomas - TRAPPing an RNA binding protein in pathogenicÌýE. coli: How a Type VI immunity protein is co-opted for small RNA regulation Ìý J King - Sex Chromosome Evolution in Australian Skinks |
| 14-May-26 | 3:30-4:30pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27)Ìý | Professor Daniel Christ, Head Antibody Therapeutics, Garvan Institute of Medical Research | TBC |
| 4-Jun-26 | 11am-12pm | Boral Theatre, AGSM (G27)ÌýÌý | NgeeKiat (Jake) Chua | TBC |
| 18-Jun-26 | 3-4pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Professor Till Boecking | TBC |
BABS Seminar Series 2025
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| Date | Time | Venue | Speaker | Title |
| 29-Jan-25 | 3-4pm | John B Reid Theatre G07, AGSM (G27) | Professor Eric Westhof, Architecture et Réactivité de l’ARN, Université de Strasbourg, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du CNRS, Strasbourg, France | The ribosome: a paradigm of RNA structure and dynamics in human health and disease |
| 6-Feb-25 | 1-2pm | Ìý Patricia O'Shane G04, Patricia O'Shane Building (E19) Ìý | Dr Huan Ma, Distinguished Professor, Department of Physiology, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China | Boosting neuronal activity-driven mitochondrial DNA transcription improves cognition in aged mice |
| 12-Feb-25 | 1-2pm | Boral Theatre G05, AGSM (G27) | Professor Martin R. Larsen, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark | Post-translational modifications of proteins in regulating cellular signalling |
| 13-Feb-25 | Ìý | Ìý | NA - No BABS seminar this Thursday | Ìý |
| 20-Feb-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Tansel Ersavas - BABS PhD Candidate (special AI talk) | Bending Reality: How Generative AI is Transforming Biology and Beyond |
| 27-Feb-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Irina Kozlova & Zheng (John) Su Ìý- BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Irina - NCAM2-induces EGFR-dependent actin cytoskeleton remodeling and filopodia formation in neuronsÌý Ìý Zheng (John) - Unravelling the Complexity of RNA Splicing and Gene Expression Regulation in Health and Disease |
| 6-Mar-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Divya Shah & Veronika Petrova - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Divya - Comparative analysis of 15 mitochondrial uncouplers reveals diverse phenotypes in cells and mice Ìý Veronika -Ìý Characterising genetic variation in early development using mouse cortical organoidsÌýÌý |
| 13-Mar-25 | 1-2pm | Civil Engineering G1, Civil Engineering Building (H20) | Peter Ruochen Wu & Jack Clarke - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Peter - Classification and surveillance of bacterial pathogens in the genomic era: Bioinformatic innovations for Campylobacter genomic species classification and C. jejuni epidemiology Ìý Jack - Molecular Adaptation to Cardiac Aging: How Exercise Reprograms the Aging Heart |
| 20-Mar-25 | 3-4pm | Webster Theatre B (G15) | Professor PatrÃcia Neves, Head of RNA Products Development- Bio-Manguinhos/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation - Brazil | RNA platform implementation in FIOCRUZ-Brasil: Seeding the innovation ecosystem in Latin America |
| 27-Mar | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Assistant Professor Navid Bavi, Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA | Structural and functional mechanisms of the cochlear amplifier at high resolution |
| 3-Apr-25 | 1-2pm | Civil Engineering G1, Civil Engineering Building (H20) | Pranita Poudyal - BABS PhD Exit Seminar & Dr Jacob Scadden, BABS Postdoctoral Fellow | Pranita - Role of prophage encoded sRNA EcOnc10 in regulating virulence in enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli Ìý Jacob - Investigating Outer Domain Redundancy of the Bacterial Flagellar Filament |
| 10-Apr-25 | 3-4pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Dr Hugh Goold FASM, MRSN, MRSB, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Chief Scientist Branch | Synthetic genomics, how to build and study genomes by design |
| 17-Apr-25 | Ìý | Ìý | NA - No BABS seminar this Thursday | Ìý |
| 24-Apr-25 | Ìý | Ìý | NA - No BABS seminar this Thursday | Ìý |
| 1-May-25 | 1-2pm | Boral Theatre G05, AGSM (G27) | Dr Andrew Yam, BABS Research AssociateÌý | Developing novel microbial cancer therapy |
| 8-May-25 | 1-2pm | Mathews 214 (F23) | Grant PfundsteinÌý- BABS PhD Exit Seminar &ÌýDr Bea Delgado Corrales, BABS Postdoctoral Fellow | Grant -ÌýNCAM2 promotes convergence of APP and BACE1 in intracellular organelles: new insights into the molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's diseaseÌý Ìý Bea - History of viral infection and host-response in children at risk of type 1 diabetes |
| 15-May-25 | 1-2pm | Mathews 214 (F23) | Muayad Al-Hadi & Dana Tribbia - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Muayad -ÌýA novel relationship between L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) and the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1)Ìý Ìý Dana -ÌýDown to Earth: Exploring novel strategies for microbial survival and growth in drylands |
| 22-May-25 | 1-2pm | Mathews 214 (F23) | Professor Mark Tanaka, BABS | How to tune genetic association like a piano |
| 29-May-25 | 3-4pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27) | Dr Dhanushi Abeygunawardena, Lecturer & Nexus Fellow, BABS | Strengthening student learning through program level curriculum design and assessment |
| 5-Jun-25 | 1-2pm | BioScience G07 (D26) | Dr Sandeep Kaur, Postdoctoral Research Associate &ÌýRiya Shrestha - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Sandeep - A novel genomic-framework for the global surveillance and tracking of antimicrobial-resistant strains Ìý Riya - Role of Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase isotypes in regulating liver tumorigenesis and liver protein acylation |
| 12-Jun-25 | 1-2pm | BioScience G07 (D26) | A/Professor Brendan Burns, BABS | Rocking the cradle of life….microbial mats and the rise of complex life |
| 19-Jun-25 | 1-2pm | BioScience G07 (D26) | Nishat Zaman & Tansel Ersavas - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Nishat - The neural cell adhesion molecule 2 (NCAM2) promotes formation ofÌý synapses in the brain through increasing insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor signaling Ìý Tansel - Discovery of Emergent Biological Patterns from Omics Datasets using Deep Learning |
| 23-Jun-25 | 1-2pm | Mathews Theatre C | Professor Carl T. Bergstrom, Department of Biology, University of Washington, USA | Peer review meltdown |
| 26-Jun-25 | 3-4pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | A/Professor Elaine Sanij, Laboratory Head at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research (SVI) and a theme leader at the Barrie Dalgleish Research Centre for Myeloma and Related Blood Cancers | Targeting the nucleoli as a strategy to treat ovarian cancer |
| 3-Jul-25 | 1-2pm | BioScience G07 (D26) | Nicole Fenton & Gabrielle Smith - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Nicole - A fast MARCH along the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway Ìý Gabrielle -ÌýCardiomyocyte epigenomics to understand divergent cardiac regeneration capacities of zebrafish and medaka |
| 10-Jul-25 | Ìý | Ìý | NA - No BABS seminar this Thursday | Ìý |
| 17-Jul-25 | Ìý | Ìý | NA - No BABS seminar this Thursday | Ìý |
| 24-Jul-25 | 1-2pm | BioScience G07 (D26) | A/Professor Fatemeh Vafaee, A/Professor at the School of BABS, Deputy Director (Science) 91É«ÇéƬ AI Institute | AI-Enabled Biomedicine: From Diagnostics to Therapeutics |
| 31-Jul-25 | 3-4pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | A/Prof Alain Wuethrich,ÌýGroup Leader, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland | Some Nanotechnologies for Monitoring Cancer and the Human Immune System |
| 6-Aug-25 | 11m-12pm | Patricia OShane G02,ÌýPatricia O'Shane Building (E19)ÌýÌý | Professor Adrian Liston, Professor of Pathology, University of Cambridge | Building a positive research culture |
| 6-Aug-25 | 3-4pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27)Ìý | Professor Adrian Liston, Professor of Pathology, University of Cambridge | Harnessing regulatory T cells to combat neuroinflammation |
| 7-Aug-25 | 1-2pm | BioScience G07 (D26) | Janelle Ramos - BABS PhD Exit Seminar & Dr Pietro Ridone, BABS Postdoctoral Fellow | Janelle - Improved Diagnosis and Characterisation of Urinary Tract Infections Using Nanopore SequencingÌý Ìý Pietro - From ions to force: structure and evolvability of the building blocks of Ion-Powered Rotary Motors |
| 14-Aug-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Maximilian Baker & Stephanie Nobs - BABS PhD Exit Seminar & TBC | Maximilian - Tilting of the neural cell adhesion molecule 2 (NCAM2) in the plasma membrane and its role in regulating synapse formation Ìý Stephanie - Characterising a novel Asgard Archaea enriched from an early earth analogue environment |
| 21-Aug-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Alexandra Young - BABS PhD Exit Seminar & BABS Technical Team | Alexandra -ÌýAntibiotic Resistance in Uropathogens: Surveillance, Genomics & Emerging Threats Ìý BABS Technical Team - Tech-ing It Up a Notch: How the BABS Tech Team Powers Your Research, Teaching and LaboratoriesÌý Ìý |
| 28-Aug-25 | 3-4pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Dr Ivan Liachko, Founder & Chief Scientist, Phase Genomics | Linking the virome, plasmidome, and resistome to the microbiome using proximity ligation sequencing |
| 2-Sep-25 | 3-4pm | Patricia O’Shane (E19; former CLB) Room G03 | Professor Sergiu P. Pasca, Psychiatry and Behavioral Studies, Stanford University | Constructing And Deconstructing The Human Nervous System To Study Development And DiseaseÌýÌý |
| 4-Sep-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Ashley Milton & Vibhuti Nandel - BABS PhD Exit SeminarsÌý | Ashley - Mind the Gap: How Weird Mammals Handle Unbalanced Chromosomes Ìý Vibhuti - Evolving Biocomplexity – Insights from Experimental Evolution of the Bacterial Flagellar Motor |
| 11-Sep-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | A/Professor Li Zhang, BABS | Emerging Aeromonas enteric infections in Australia |
| 18-Sep-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Benjamin Hanrahan & Anthea Lee - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Benjamin - A Tale of Two Lizards Ìý Anthea - Investigating the upregulation of titin as a potential treatment strategy for titinopathiesÌý |
| 18-Sep-25 | 4-5pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Professor Jan Lowe, Director, Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK | DNA entrapment by Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (SMC) complexes |
| 25-Sep-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Dr Scott Berry, School of Biomedical Sciences, 91É«ÇéƬÌý | Global control of RNA Polymerase Il for mRNA concentration homeostasisÌýÌý |
| 2-Oct-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Assistant Professor Alexander Knights, PhD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Center of Regenerative Medicine, Washington University, St Louis, USA | Integrative analysis of stromal-immune crosstalk in osteoarthritis |
| 9-Oct-25 | Ìý | Ìý | NA - No BABS seminar this Thursday | Ìý |
| 16-Oct-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Yau Man Christopher Luk & Si-Mei Xu - BABS PhD Exit SeminarsÌý | Chris - A silent troublemaker: Uncovering the hidden pathogenic role of Campylobacter concisus in gastrointestinal diseases Ìý Si-Mei - RNA Matchmaking -Ìý Fusion RNAs in Gynaecological Cancers |
| 23-Oct-25 | 11-1:30am | Online via Teams | Karla Vinasco Pacheco - BABS PhD Exit Seminar | Microbial and Host Determinants of Lactate Reprogramming in Gastric Cancer Progression |
| 30-Oct-25 | 1-2pm | Mathews Theatre D (D23)Ìý | A/Professor Christopher Marquis, BABS | Bioprocessing and Bioproducts |
| 6-Nov-25 | Ìý | Ìý | NA - No BABS seminar this Thursday | Ìý |
| 13-Nov-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Bianca Briscas & James Gaston - BABS PhD Exit Seminars | Bianca - Developing a microbiome-mediated intervention for the prevention of invasive fungal infections arising from the gastrointestinal tract Ìý James - Lights, camera, action! Building light responsive DNA-liposome systems |
| 18-Nov-25 | 1-2pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27)Ìý | ÌýAssistant Professor Katie Galloway, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | Gene syntax directs supercoiling feedback and chromatin architecture |
| 20-Nov-25 | 1-2pm | LG03, Wallace Wurth (C27) | Associate Professor Debnath Ghosal, Department of Biochemistry & Pharmacology, University of Melbourne | Understanding the molecular logic of human oral microbiome |
| 16-Dec-25 | 1-2pm | Pioneer International Theatre G04, AGSM (G27)Ìý | Dr Rhona Christie, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Scotland | Therapeutically Targetable Vulnerabilities to Ferroptosis in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia |