Liviu Bodea

Dr Liviu-Gabriel Bodea is a brain immune cell biologist specialising in the functional interplay between microglia, the brain’s primary resident immune cells, and surrounding cell types, both in health and disease. He is a Research Fellow at the School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, and is affiliated with the Clem Jones Centre in Ageing Dementia Research, Queensland Brain Institute.

Liviu was awarded his Dr.rer.nat. (PhD) title from the University of Bonn, Germany (2014), working in the group of Prof. Harald Neumann on projects related to microglia physiology. He then relocated to Australia as the Peter Hilton Early Career Fellow in Ageing Dementia Research (2014-2019) to continue his work with Prof. Jürgen Götz on the underlying mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Frontotemporal dementia. He secured major extramural funding for his research (NHMRC Project Grant, NHMRC Ideas Grant, Dementia Australia Research Foundation Mid-Career Fellowship), and since July 2024, he has led the Microglia Metabolic Reprogramming and Proteostasis Research Team within the laboratory of Assoc. Prof. Karin Borges.

Liviu has significant experience in generating and analysing both in vivo and in vitro models (from stable cell lines and primary cultures to genetically modified mice). His work combines various biochemical and molecular techniques, ranging from high-resolution microscopy to omics (transcriptomics, proteomics) and bioorthogonal labelling to analyse newly synthesised proteins.

Liviu has extensive experience in guiding both undergraduate and postgraduate students into the wonders of scientific research :)

Complete List of Published Work: PubMed Bibliography

Funding and Awards

2024-2027 NHMRC Ideas Grant #2030460 (sole CI, ~AU$ 800,000)

2022-2024 Dementia Australia Research Foundation Mid-Carrier Research Fellowship (AU$ 375,000)

2022 The University of Queensland Research Stimulus Fellowship (AU$ 150,000)

2019 Emergency Services Queensland Philanthropic Support (AU$ 25,000)

2018-2021 NHMRC Project Grant #1147569 (CIB, ~AU$ 460,000)

2014-2019 Peter Hilton Early Career Research Fellowship in Ageing Dement (AU$ 500,000)

Research Impact, Leadership and Professional Activities

Dr. Bodea attracted >3,500 citations (h-index 15 @Google Scholar), including 6 articles with >100 citations (Google Scholar) and Web of Science 2x Highly Cited Papers. In 2021, Expertscape recognised Dr. Bodea as one of the top-rated researchers in the field of tauopathy, placing him in the top 0.8% of >142,000 published authors worldwide on tauopathies between 2012 and 2021. Further proving its impact, his work was cited in 22 patents.

Dr. Bodea's study on the microglial TYROBP in late-onset AD (Cell 2013, co-first author, former Highly Cited Publication @Web of Science) represents a milestone in the field, with >1700 citations (Google Scholar). He also revealed the complement-induced neurodegeneration of dopaminergic neurons following peripheral immune stimulation (JNeurosci 2014, first author). More recently, he coordinated studies that centred on the effect of Tau protein (molecule relevant for Alzheimer's disease) on protein synthesis (EMBO J 2019 and Acta Neuropathologica Communications 2021), the use of artificial amino acids and de novo proteome analysis for the investigation of memory (eLife 2020) and microglial physiology (STARProtocols 2023), and the role of neuronal PTEN enzyme in synaptic engulfment by microglia (Acta Neuropathologica 2020). He published authoritative reviews in the Journal of Neurochemistry (2017), Nature Reviews Neurology (2018), Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2018), and Brain Research Bulletin (2021).

Dr. Bodea has been a grant reviewer for Alzheimer’s Australia/Dementia Research Foundation (since 2016), MS Research Australia (since 2019), and NHMRC (since 2021). He was Lead Guest Editor for a Special Research Topic in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (2023), is a member of the Reviewer Board for Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience and was a member of the Reviewer Board for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Mental Health section. He is an ad-hoc reviewer for various top-tier publications, ranging from Science to Trends in Cell Biology.

Dr. Bodea has mentored and supervised the daily activity of PhD students (2 completed, 1 current), Honours students (4 completed, all awarded First Class distinctions), 2 research assistants, and >15 other students on smaller projects. His PhD students received awards (e.g., the Alistair Rushworth Fellowship, Merck-QBI Best Student Publication Award, Best Oral Presentation). Both his completed PhD students continue with academic careers: Dr. Joey Benetatos, following a successful post-doctoral training in the Fraenkel Lab (MIT, USA), is currently pursuing his second post-doctoral position in the Prof. Loren Looger group (UCSD, USA), and Dr. Harrison T Evans is holding an Alzheimer's Association Postdoctoral Fellowship and is the Leon Levy Fellow in the Prof. Eric Klann lab (NYU, USA).