Student Profiles

The MWC offers a superb training environment for graduate students in the molecular biosciences. The centre currently supports over 30 PhD projects in areas from molecular biology to computer modelling. Below are some examples of our students and their projects. As you will see, doing a PhD in the MWC exposes you to a wide array of expertise and technologies. PhD positions in the MWCMB are highly sought after, so if you're thinking about a research career in molecular biosciences, and would like to know more about current opportunities in graduate research, please contact Rochelle Ramsay.

Below is just a sample of some of the PhD students and their projects

	Novel modelling software for detection of Lymph node involvement in Melanoma metastisis Hayley Reynolds is supervised by Dr. Nic Smith from the Bioengineering Institute and Assoc. Prof. Rod Dunbar from the School of Biological Sciences. Melanoma can be a devastating form of skin cancer. Hayley's project has been to develop a computer modelling method that will allow clinicians to accurately predict the most likely lymph nodes to examine for site of metastasis given the location of the orginal melanoma. Hayley's project was a runner up in the MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year award.
	CellML as a language to represent biological information Sarala Dissanayake is a PhD student supervised by Dr Poul Nielsen and Dr Matt Halstead of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute. CellML is an XML-based language, developed at the Institute, used to represent and exchange mathematical models of biological processes. Sarala is investigating ways to link CellML models to formal representations of biological knowledge (e.g. to ontologies such as BioPAX, GO, and FMA) so that the models can be graphically represented in biologically meaningful ways by ascribing appropriate glyphs to the model components.
	Molecular mechanisms of adiponectin Bronwyn Jongbloed is working on the molecular mechanisms underlying the biological activities of adiponectin in the liver. Earlier research has demonstrated that adiponectin can potently deplete lipid accumulation and inflammation associated with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are not clear. Bronwen aims to use both genomic and proteomic approaches to identify the potential molecular targets of adiponectin in the liver.
	Studies of enzymes that regulate inositol metabolism in diabetes Peter Brown Peter has been working jointly between Ted Baker's and Garth Cooper's groups. His PhD topic is an enzyme called myo-inositol oxygenase, which is upregulated in diabetes. It is believed that inhibition of this enzyme could provide a new strategy against diabetic complications. Peter has recently solved the complete atomic structure of this enzyme by X-ray crystallography. He has also shown how its substrate inositol binds, and this knowledge is now being used in the early stages of a drug development programme. A provisional patent application has also been filed.