Professor Mark Blaskovich
Professor

Mark Blaskovich

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 334 62039
Mobile: 
0414955380

Background

Professor Mark Blaskovich is an antibiotic hunter and Director of Translation at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland. He is co-founder and former Director of the Centre for Superbug Solutions at IMB.

A medicinal chemist with 15 years of industrial drug development experience prior to his academic career, Mark has been developing new antibiotics to treat drug resistant pathogens and using modified antibiotics to detect bacterial infections. He is a co-founder of the Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery, a global antibiotic discovery initiative, and has led a number of UQ-industry collaborations focused on antibiotic development. An inventor on eleven patent families, Mark has developed drugs in clinical trials, published more than eighty research articles, and received over $10m in grant funding.

Availability

Professor Mark Blaskovich is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Medicinal and biomolecular chemistry

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), University of Victoria
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Waterloo

Search Professor Mark Blaskovich’s works on UQ eSpace

229 works between 1988 and 2025
All (229) Book (1) Journal Article (185) Other Outputs (27) Conference Publication (12) Book Chapter (4)

121 - 140 of 229 works

2020

Journal Article

Hydroxyl substituted benzoic acid/cinnamic acid derivatives: tyrosinase inhibitory kinetics, anti-melanogenic activity and molecular docking studies

Nazir, Yasir, Saeed, Aamer, Rafiq, Muhammad, Afzal, Samina, Ali, Anser, Latif, Muhammad, Zuegg, Johannes, Hussein, Waleed M., Fercher, Christian, Barnard, Ross T., Cooper, Matthew A., Blaskovich, Mark A.T., Ashraf, Zaman and Ziora, Zyta M. (2020). Hydroxyl substituted benzoic acid/cinnamic acid derivatives: tyrosinase inhibitory kinetics, anti-melanogenic activity and molecular docking studies. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 30 (1) 126722, 1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2019.126722

Hydroxyl substituted benzoic acid/cinnamic acid derivatives: tyrosinase inhibitory kinetics, anti-melanogenic activity and molecular docking studies

2020

Book Chapter

Solid-phase synthesis of octapeptin lipopeptides

Hansford, Karl A., Ziora, Zyta M., Cooper, Matthew A. and Blaskovich, Mark A. T. (2020). Solid-phase synthesis of octapeptin lipopeptides. Peptide synthesis: methods and protocols. (pp. 199-213) edited by Waleed M. Hussein, Mariusz Skwarczynski and Istvan Toth. New York, NY United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0227-0_13

Solid-phase synthesis of octapeptin lipopeptides

2020

Journal Article

Chemical synthesis of human trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) and its homodimer provides novel insights into their mechanisms of action

Braga Emidio, Nayara, Baik, Hayeon, Lee, David, Stürmer, René, Heuer, Jörn, Elliott, Alysha G., Blaskovich, Mark A. T., Haupenthal, Katharina, Tegtmeyer, Nicole, Hoffmann, Werner, Schroeder, Christina I. and Muttenthaler, Markus (2020). Chemical synthesis of human trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) and its homodimer provides novel insights into their mechanisms of action. Chemical Communications, 56 (47), 6420-6423. doi: 10.1039/d0cc02321c

Chemical synthesis of human trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) and its homodimer provides novel insights into their mechanisms of action

2020

Journal Article

Antitubercular and Antiparasitic 2-Nitroimidazopyrazinones with Improved Potency and Solubility

Ang, Chee Wei, Tan, Lendl, Sykes, Melissa L., Abugharbiyeh, Neda, Debnath, Anjan, Reid, Janet C., West, Nicholas P., Avery, Vicky M., Cooper, Matthew A. and Blaskovich, Mark A. T. (2020). Antitubercular and Antiparasitic 2-Nitroimidazopyrazinones with Improved Potency and Solubility. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 63 (24), 15726-15751. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01372

Antitubercular and Antiparasitic 2-Nitroimidazopyrazinones with Improved Potency and Solubility

2020

Journal Article

Fluorescent macrolide probes – synthesis and use in evaluation of bacterial resistance

Stone, M. Rhia L., Łapińska, Urszula, Pagliara, Stefano, Masi, Muriel, Blanchfield, Joanne T., Cooper, Matthew A. and Blaskovich, Mark A. T. (2020). Fluorescent macrolide probes – synthesis and use in evaluation of bacterial resistance. RSC Chemical Biology, 1 (5), 395-404. doi: 10.1039/d0cb00118j

Fluorescent macrolide probes – synthesis and use in evaluation of bacterial resistance

2019

Journal Article

Non-antibiotic small-molecule regulation of DHFR-based destabilizing domains in vivo

Peng, Hui, Chau, Viet Q., Phetsang, Wanida, Sebastian, Rebecca M., Stone, M. Rhia L., Datta, Shyamtanu, Renwick, Marian, Tamer, Yusuf T., Toprak, Erdal, Koh, Andrew Y., Blaskovich, Mark A.T. and Hulleman, John D. (2019). Non-antibiotic small-molecule regulation of DHFR-based destabilizing domains in vivo. Molecular Therapy - Methods and Clinical Development, 15, 27-39. doi: 10.1016/j.omtm.2019.08.002

Non-antibiotic small-molecule regulation of DHFR-based destabilizing domains in vivo

2019

Journal Article

Tyrosinase inhibitors as potential antibacterial agents

Yuan, Ye, Jin, Wanli, Nazir, Yasir, Fercher, Christian, Thomas Blaskovich, Mark A., Cooper, Matthew A., Barnard, Ross T. and Ziora, Zyta M. (2019). Tyrosinase inhibitors as potential antibacterial agents. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 187 111892, 111892. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.111892

Tyrosinase inhibitors as potential antibacterial agents

2019

Other Outputs

Antibacterial Agents

Cooper, Matthew and Blaskovich, Mark (2019). Antibacterial Agents. JP6602318.

Antibacterial Agents

2019

Journal Article

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Brown, Peter, Tan, Aik-Choon, El-Esawi, Mohamed A., Liehr, Thomas, Blanck, Oliver, Gladue, Douglas P., Almeida, Gabriel M. F., Cernava, Tomislav, Sorzano, Carlos O., Yeung, Andy W. K., Engel, Michael S., Chandrasekaran, Arun Richard, Muth, Thilo, Staege, Martin S., Daulatabad, Swapna V., Widera, Darius, Zhang, Junpeng, Meule, Adrian, Honjo, Ken, Pourret, Olivier, Yin, Cong-Cong, Zhang, Zhongheng, Cascella, Marco, Flegel, Willy A., Goodyear, Carl S., van Raaij, Mark J., Bukowy-Bieryllo, Zuzanna, Campana, Luca G., Kurniawan, Nicholas A. ... RELISH Consortium (2019). Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search. Database-The Journal of Biological Databases and Curation, 2019 baz085, 1-67. doi: 10.1093/database/baz085

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

2019

Journal Article

In vitro antimicrobial activity of acne drugs against skin-associated bacteria

Blaskovich, Mark A. T., Elliott, Alysha G., Kavanagh, Angela M., Ramu, Soumya and Cooper, Matthew A. (2019). In vitro antimicrobial activity of acne drugs against skin-associated bacteria. Scientific Reports, 9 (1) 14658, 14658. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-50746-4

In vitro antimicrobial activity of acne drugs against skin-associated bacteria

2019

Journal Article

Call for Papers: Antibiotics Special Issue

Blaskovich, Mark A. T. (2019). Call for Papers: Antibiotics Special Issue. ACS Infectious Diseases, 5 (8) acsinfecdis.0c00663, 1264-1264. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.9b00262

Call for Papers: Antibiotics Special Issue

2019

Other Outputs

Antibacterial Agents

Cooper, Matthew and Blaskovich, Mark (2019). Antibacterial Agents. AU2015/213478.

Antibacterial Agents

2019

Other Outputs

Peptide antibiotics

Gallardo-Goday, Alejandra, Cooper, Matthew, Blaskovich, Mark, Hansford, Karl and Elliott, Alysha (2019). Peptide antibiotics. WO2019084628.

Peptide antibiotics

2019

Journal Article

Elucidating the lipid binding properties of membrane-active peptides using cyclised nanodiscs

Zhang, Alan H., Edwards, Ingrid A., Mishra, Biswa P., Sharma, Gagan, Healy, Michael D., Elliott, Alysha, Blaskovich, Mark A. T., Cooper, Matthew A., Collins, Brett M., Jia, Xinying and Mobli, Mehdi (2019). Elucidating the lipid binding properties of membrane-active peptides using cyclised nanodiscs. Frontiers in Chemistry, 7 (MAR) 238, 238. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2019.00238

Elucidating the lipid binding properties of membrane-active peptides using cyclised nanodiscs

2019

Journal Article

The eagle effect and antibiotic-induced persistence: two sides of the same coin?

Prasetyoputri, Anggia, Jarrad, Angie M., Cooper, Matthew A. and Blaskovich, Mark A.T. (2019). The eagle effect and antibiotic-induced persistence: two sides of the same coin?. Trends in Microbiology, 27 (4), 339-354. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2018.10.007

The eagle effect and antibiotic-induced persistence: two sides of the same coin?

2019

Conference Publication

Antibiotic-derived molecular probes for bacterial imaging

Blaskovich, Mark A., Phetsang, Wanida, Stone, M. Rhia L., Lapinska, Urszula, Pagliara, Stefano, Bhalla, Rajiv and Cooper, Matthew A. (2019). Antibiotic-derived molecular probes for bacterial imaging. SPIE BiOS 2019, San Francisco, California, 2-7 February 2019. Bellingham, WA United States: SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. doi: 10.1117/12.2507329

Antibiotic-derived molecular probes for bacterial imaging

2019

Journal Article

Structure-function studies of polymyxin B lipononapeptides

Gallardo-Godoy, Alejandra, Hansford, Karl, Muldoon, Craig, Becker, Bernd, Elliott, Alysha, Huang, Johnny, Pelingon, Ruby, Butler, Mark, Blaskovich, Mark and Cooper, Matthew (2019). Structure-function studies of polymyxin B lipononapeptides. Molecules, 24 (3) 553, 553. doi: 10.3390/molecules24030553

Structure-function studies of polymyxin B lipononapeptides

2019

Journal Article

Quinolone antibiotics

Pham, Thu D. M., Ziora, Zyta M. and Blaskovich, Mark A. T. (2019). Quinolone antibiotics. MedChemComm, 10 (10), 1719-1739. doi: 10.1039/c9md00120d

Quinolone antibiotics

2019

Journal Article

Effects of microplate type and broth additives on microdilution MIC susceptibility assays

Kavanagh, Angela, Ramu, Soumya, Gong, Yujing, Cooper, Matthew A. and Blaskovich, Mark A. T. (2019). Effects of microplate type and broth additives on microdilution MIC susceptibility assays. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 63 (1) e01760-18. doi: 10.1128/aac.01760-18

Effects of microplate type and broth additives on microdilution MIC susceptibility assays

2018

Journal Article

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-nitroimidazopyrazin-one/-es with antitubercular and antiparasitic activity

Jarrad, Angie M., Ang, Chee Wei, Debnath, Anjan, Hahn, Hye Jee, Woods, Kyra, Tan, Lendl, Sykes, Melissa L., Jones, Amy J., Pelingon, Ruby, Butler, Mark S., Avery, Vicky M., West, Nicholas P., Karoli, Tomislav, Blaskovich, Mark A. T. and Cooper, Matthew A. (2018). Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-nitroimidazopyrazin-one/-es with antitubercular and antiparasitic activity. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 61 (24) acs.jmedchem.8b01578, 11349-11371. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01578

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-nitroimidazopyrazin-one/-es with antitubercular and antiparasitic activity

Current funding

  • 2025 - 2026
    A Facility for Accelerated Microbial Phenotyping in Southeast Queensland
    ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2028
    Camelid antibodies to combat antimicrobial resistance
    Australia-India Strategic Research Fund
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2026
    Investigations into the antibacterial mechanism of action of cannabidiol
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2026
    Seeing the Unseen: Imaging Bacterial Infections
    NHMRC IDEAS Grants
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2028
    ARC Training Centre for Environmental and Agricultural Solutions to Antimicrobial Resistance (ARC CEA-StAR)
    ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centres
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2026
    Rapid detection of drug resistant tuberculosis using real-time sequencing (MRFF Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance and Drug Resistant TB grant led by Uni Melbourne)
    University of Melbourne
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023 - 2025
    A novel, portable, low-cost oxygen therapy to improve wound healing using photosynthetic light (2023 RBWH Translational Research Grant administered by RBWH)
    Metro North Hospital and Health Service
    Open grant
  • 2023
    CSIRO Library Screening
    CSIRO
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2025
    Enhancing Australian biodiscovery molecule generation, storage and access (ARC LIEF administered by Griffith University)
    Griffith University
    Open grant
  • 2022
    CSIRO Library Screening
    CSIRO
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2024
    Molecular Accumulation in single cells via microfluidics and omics (BBSRC grant administered by University of Exeter)
    University of Exeter
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2022
    A study of the antimicrobial efficacy of Calix bioactive materials
    Calix Limited
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2023
    Advanced Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Technologies for Southeast Queensland
    ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2023
    Antibiotic Conjugates: Joining Together to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance
    NHMRC IDEAS Grants
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2025
    OctapeptinX Potentiators to treat XDR Gram-negative infections
    NHMRC Development Grant
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2024
    Predictive Models to Design and Develop New Antibiotics Derived from the Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery
    NHMRC IDEAS Grants
    Open grant
  • 2020
    Sequencing Analysis of CBD-Induced Resistance S. saprophyticus
    Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2020
    Cannabodiol analog synthesis and characterisation
    Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2023
    Breaking antibiotic resistance in high priority Gram-negative sepsis pathogens
    NHMRC Development Grant
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2020
    Continued Investigations into the Antimicrobial Activity of Cannabidiol
    Innovation Connections
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2020
    Antibacterial Potentiation Screening 1. Master Research Services Agreement - Statement of Work no.3
    Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2019
    Antibacterial Potentiation Screening 1. Master Research Services Agreement - Statement of Work no.2
    Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2019
    Antibacterial Screening 1. Master Research Services Agreement - Statement of Work no.1
    Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2019
    In vivo imaging system for tracking inflammation, infection, cancer, pain and bioactive molecules
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2019
    Investigations into the Antimicrobial Activity of Cannabidiol
    Innovation Connections
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2021
    Lipopeptide antibiotics for XDR Gram-negative infections
    NHMRC Development Grant
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2021
    Rapid Diagnosis of Microbial Infections Without Culture
    Defence Materials Technology Centre
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    Natureceuticals from post-production wine extracts
    Innovation Connections
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    Antibody-antibiotic conjugates to treat drug-resistant Gram-ve infections
    Global Connections Fund
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2020
    Rapid diagnosis of pathogenic infections
    Queensland Government Advance Queensland Innovation Partnerships
    Open grant
  • 2017
    Natureceuticals from post-production wine extracts
    Innovation Connections
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2023
    Open Access Award
    The Wellcome Trust
    Open grant
  • 2016
    Antibody-antibiotic conjugates to treat drug-resistant bacteria
    Global Connections Fund
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2017
    Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery (CO-ADD) Indonesian Engagement Program
    Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2019
    Novel membrane-targeted antibiotics against drug-resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections
    NHMRC Development Grant
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery (CO-ADD)
    The Wellcome Trust
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2015
    Effect of Sputum Surrogate on Amikacin activity with and without fosfomycin
    UniQuest Pty Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2015
    Antimicrobial activity of MTC896 against common skin bacteria
    UniQuest Pty Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2014
    Continuous-Flow Hydrogenation Reactor (H-Cube Pro)
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2014
    Enrichment, detection and identification of bacteria in blood and urine.
    UQ Collaboration and Industry Engagement Fund - Seed Research Grant
    Open grant

Availability

Professor Mark Blaskovich is:
Available for supervision

Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.

Available projects

  • Functionalised antibiotics for diagnostics and therapeutics

    The increasing incidence of infections caused by drug resistant bacteria and fungi poses a significant and increasing threat to global human health, with predicted annual mortality of 10 million people by 2050. It is imperative to advance new technologies capable of rapidly and accurately diagnosing infections to enable timely and appropriate therapy. We must develop new antibiotics with efficacy against multidrug-resistant bacteria and fungi, and new methods to rapidy diagnose infections. To enable this we require fundamental studies that probe the chemical biology of antibiotic action and investigate microbial growth, metabolism and resistance.

    This research program is designed to achieve these goals, based on the chemical functionalisation of antibiotics with a readily derivatised handle. The resulting set of versatile intermediates is then modified to create 1) fluorescent probes that can catalyse basic research and lead to new assays, 2) clinical imaging agents to visualise microbial infections, and 3) novel hybrid therapeutics. The project requires talented synthetic organic chemists with an interest in multidisciplinary research.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Antibiotic potentiators as an alternative therapeutic option for the treatment of extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative infections.

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Johannes Zuegg

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Clicking Conjugates into Place for the Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Joanne Blanchfield, Dr Rhia Stone, Dr Anthony Verderosa

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Translating the Targeted Protein Degradation therapeutic approach into the context of antibacterial drug discovery: Investigating bacterial protease-engaging antibacterial degrader constructs

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Anthony Verderosa

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Investigations of novel antimicrobial agents and formulations to treat topical agricultural infections.

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Conny Turni, Dr Sanjaya Kc

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Evaluation of biofilm dispersal of Nontuberculous mycobacteria and Legionella in contaminated water environments

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Rachel Thomson, Professor Jianhua Guo

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Antibiotic Conjugates: Joining Together to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Vito Ferro

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Investigations of the interactions between fluorescent antibiotics and bacteria

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Sanjaya Kc, Dr Anthony Verderosa

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Repurposing Drugs, Redefining Models: Tackling Antimicrobial-Resistant Gonorrhoea

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Johannes Zuegg, Dr Tanuka Sen

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Mechanism of action of MgO

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Conny Turni, Dr Sean Bisset, Professor Ian Henderson

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Seeing the Unseen: Imaging Bacterial Infections

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Kristofer Thurecht, Dr Rhia Stone

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Targeting bacterial biofilms in patients with gastrointestinal disorders

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Markus Muttenthaler

  • Doctor Philosophy

    How does cannabidiol kill bacteria?

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Tanuka Sen, Dr Johannes Zuegg

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Medicinal chemistry strategies to remove bacterial biofilms associated with gastrointestinal disorders

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Markus Muttenthaler

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Development of computational models to discover new antibiotics against Gram-negative bacteria. (Note: online component of Onawole's application lists his Master's thesis title instead of this project)

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Johannes Zuegg

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Targeting the Biogenesis of Resistance Enzymes to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Ian Henderson, Dr Tanuka Sen, Dr Rhia Stone

  • Doctor Philosophy

    A global quantitative genetic network for Escherichia coli

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Ian Henderson

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Development of Metal Organic Frameworks for targeted oral drug delivery

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Anjana Jayasree, Professor Amirali Popat

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Seeing the Unseen: Imaging Bacterial Infections

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Kristofer Thurecht, Dr Rhia Stone

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Professor Mark Blaskovich directly for media enquiries about:

  • acne
  • antibiotic resistance
  • antibiotics
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • antimicrobial resistance antibiotics
  • bacteria
  • bacterial detection
  • bacterial infection
  • bacterial resistance
  • drug design
  • drug development
  • drug discovery
  • E. coli
  • glycopeptide antibiotics
  • golden staph
  • gram negative bacteria
  • gram positive bacteria
  • microbiome
  • octapeptin
  • superbugs

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