Professor David Ascher
Professor

David Ascher

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Phone: 
+61 7 336 53991

Background

Prof David Ascher is currently an NHMRC Investigator, immediate past Director of the Biotechnology Program, and Deputy Associate Dean (Research Partnerships) in the Faculty of Science at the University of Queensland. He is also Head of Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics at the Baker Institute.

David’s research focus is in modelling biological data to gain insight into fundamental biological processes. One of his primary research interests has been developing tools to unravel the link between genotype and phenotype, using computational and experimental approaches to understand the effects of mutations on protein structure and function. His group has developed a platform of over 40 widely used programs for assessing the molecular consequences of coding variants (>7 million hits/year).

Working with clinical collaborators in Australia, Brazil and UK, these methods have been translated into the clinic to guide the diagnosis, management and treatment of a number of hereditary diseases, rare cancers and drug resistant infections.

David has a B.Biotech from the University of Adelaide, majoring in Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Pharmacology and Toxicology; and a B.Sci(Hon) from the University of Queensland, majoring in Biochemistry, where he worked with Luke Guddat and Ron Duggleby on the structural and functional characterization of enzymes in the branched-chain amino acid biosynthetic pathway. David then went to St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research to undertake a PhD at the University of Melbourne in Biochemistry. There he worked under the supervision of Michael Parker using computational, biochemical and structural tools to develop small molecules drugs to improve memory.

In 2013 David went to the University of Cambridge to work with Sir Tom Blundell on using fragment based drug development techniques to target protein-protein interactions; and subsequently on the structural characterisation of proteins involved in non-homologous DNA repair. He returned to Cambridge in 2014 to establish a research platform to characterise the molecular effects of mutations on protein structure and function- using this information to gain insight into the link between genetic changes and phenotypes. He was subsequently recruited as a lab head in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Melbourne in 2016, before joining the Baker Institute in 2019 and the University of Queensland in 2021.

He is an Associate Editor of PBMB and Fronteirs in Bioinformatics, and holds honorary positions at Bio21 Institute, Cambridge University, FIOCRUZ, and the Tuscany University Network.

Availability

Professor David Ascher is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Applications in life sciences Artificial intelligence Biochemistry and cell biology Bioinformatic methods development Bioinformatics and computational biology Biological Sciences Biological network analysis Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Cardiovascular medicine and haematology Data engineering and data science Data management and data science Gene mapping Genetics Genomics Genomics and transcriptomics Industrial biotechnology Industrial molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins Information and Computing Sciences Medical biochemistry and metabolomics Microbial genetics Microbiology Sequence analysis Statistical and quantitative genetics Structural biology (incl. macromolecular modelling) Translational and applied bioinformatics

Research impacts

We have successfully translated our computational tools into the clinic and industry, including:

  • Clinical detection of drug resistance from whole-genome sequencing of pathogens, including Tuburculosis and Leprosy
  • Genetic counselling for rare diseases and cancers with Addenbrooke's Hospital and Brazilian Ministry of Health
  • Patient stratification within clinical trials
  • Implementation within industry drug and biologics development programs

The tools we have developed have also been widely adopted within existing academic programs including:

  • Integration of intermolecular interaction calculations using our tool Arpeggio in the PDBe, the European resource for the collection, organisation and dissemination of data on biological macromolecular structures.
  • Integration of our missense tolerance scores within the widely used VEP tool for variant characterisation.
  • Implementation of our resistance prediction tools within the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine's TB-Profiler tool.

Search Professor David Ascher’s works on UQ eSpace

185 works between 2008 and 2025
All (185) Journal Article (176) Book Chapter (7) Conference Publication (2)

161 - 180 of 185 works

2015

Journal Article

pkCSM: predicting small-molecule pharmacokinetic and toxicity properties using graph-based signatures

Pires, Douglas E V, Blundell, Tom L and Ascher, David B (2015). pkCSM: predicting small-molecule pharmacokinetic and toxicity properties using graph-based signatures. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 58 (9), 4066-72. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b00104

pkCSM: predicting small-molecule pharmacokinetic and toxicity properties using graph-based signatures

2015

Journal Article

Analysis of HGD gene mutations in patients with Alkaptonuria from the United Kingdom: identification of novel mutations

Usher, Jeannette L, Ascher, David B, Pires, Douglas E V, Milan, Anna M, Blundell, Tom L and Ranganath, Lakshminarayan R (2015). Analysis of HGD gene mutations in patients with Alkaptonuria from the United Kingdom: identification of novel mutations. JIMD Reports, 24, 3-11. doi: 10.1007/8904_2014_380

Analysis of HGD gene mutations in patients with Alkaptonuria from the United Kingdom: identification of novel mutations

2015

Journal Article

PEGylation does not significantly change the initial intravenous or subcutaneous pharmacokinetics or lymphatic exposure of trastuzumab in rats but increases plasma clearance after subcutaneous administration

Chan, Linda J., Bulitta, Jürgen B., Ascher, David B., Haynes, John Michael, McLeod, Victoria M., Porter, Christopher J. H., Williams, Charlotte C. and Kaminskas, Lisa M. (2015). PEGylation does not significantly change the initial intravenous or subcutaneous pharmacokinetics or lymphatic exposure of trastuzumab in rats but increases plasma clearance after subcutaneous administration. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 12 (3), 794-809. doi: 10.1021/mp5006189

PEGylation does not significantly change the initial intravenous or subcutaneous pharmacokinetics or lymphatic exposure of trastuzumab in rats but increases plasma clearance after subcutaneous administration

2015

Journal Article

Methotrexate-conjugated PEGylated dendrimers show differential patterns of deposition and activity in tumor-burdened lymph nodes after intravenous and subcutaneous administration in rats

Kaminskas, Lisa M., McLeod, Victoria M., Ascher, David B., Ryan, Gemma M., Jones, Seth, Haynes, John M., Trevaskis, Natalie L., Chan, Linda J., Sloan, Erica K., Finnin, Benjamin A., Williamson, Mark, Velkov, Tony, Williams, Elizabeth D., Kelly, Brian D., Owen, David J. and Porter, Christopher J. H. (2015). Methotrexate-conjugated PEGylated dendrimers show differential patterns of deposition and activity in tumor-burdened lymph nodes after intravenous and subcutaneous administration in rats. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 12 (2), 432-443. doi: 10.1021/mp500531e

Methotrexate-conjugated PEGylated dendrimers show differential patterns of deposition and activity in tumor-burdened lymph nodes after intravenous and subcutaneous administration in rats

2015

Journal Article

Crystal structure of human insulin-regulated aminopeptidase with specificity for cyclic peptides

Hermans, Stefan J, Ascher, David B, Hancock, Nancy C, Holien, Jessica K, Michell, Belinda J, Chai, Siew Yeen, Morton, Craig J and Parker, Michael W (2015). Crystal structure of human insulin-regulated aminopeptidase with specificity for cyclic peptides. Protein Science, 24 (2), 190-199. doi: 10.1002/pro.2604

Crystal structure of human insulin-regulated aminopeptidase with specificity for cyclic peptides

2015

Journal Article

Platinum: a database of experimentally measured effects of mutations on structurally defined protein-ligand complexes

Pires, Douglas E V, Blundell, Tom L and Ascher, David B (2015). Platinum: a database of experimentally measured effects of mutations on structurally defined protein-ligand complexes. Nucleic Acids Research, 43 (D1), D387-D391. doi: 10.1093/nar/gku966

Platinum: a database of experimentally measured effects of mutations on structurally defined protein-ligand complexes

2015

Book Chapter

Protein-protein interactions: structures and druggability

Ascher, David B., Jubb, Harry C., Pires, Douglas E. V., Ochi, Takashi, Higueruelo, Alicia and Blundell, Tom L. (2015). Protein-protein interactions: structures and druggability. Multifaceted roles of crystallography in modern drug discovery. (pp. 141-163) Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Netherlands. doi: 10.1007/978-94-017-9719-1_12

Protein-protein interactions: structures and druggability

2014

Journal Article

Practical lessons in murine thoracic lymph duct cannulations: Observations in female and male mice across four different strains that impact on cannulatability

Caliph, Suzanne M., Shackleford, David M., Ascher, David B. and Kaminskas, Lisa M. (2014). Practical lessons in murine thoracic lymph duct cannulations: Observations in female and male mice across four different strains that impact on cannulatability. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 104 (3), 1207-1209. doi: 10.1002/jps.24312

Practical lessons in murine thoracic lymph duct cannulations: Observations in female and male mice across four different strains that impact on cannulatability

2014

Journal Article

Anti-Aβ antibody target engagement: a response to Siemers et al.

Watt, Andrew D, Crespi, Gabriela A N, Down, Russell A, Ascher, David B, Gunn, Adam, Perez, Keyla A, McLean, Catriona A, Villemagne, Victor L, Parker, Michael W, Barnham, Kevin J and Miles, Luke A (2014). Anti-Aβ antibody target engagement: a response to Siemers et al.. Acta Neuropathologica, 128 (4), 611-4. doi: 10.1007/s00401-014-1333-8

Anti-Aβ antibody target engagement: a response to Siemers et al.

2014

Journal Article

DUET: a server for predicting effects of mutations on protein stability using an integrated computational approach

Pires, Douglas E. V., Ascher, David B. and Blundell, Tom L. (2014). DUET: a server for predicting effects of mutations on protein stability using an integrated computational approach. Nucleic Acids Research, 42 (Web Server issue), W314-W319. doi: 10.1093/nar/gku411

DUET: a server for predicting effects of mutations on protein stability using an integrated computational approach

2014

Journal Article

Do current therapeutic anti-Aβ antibodies for Alzheimer's disease engage the target?

Watt, Andrew D, Crespi, Gabriela A N, Down, Russell A, Ascher, David B, Gunn, Adam, Perez, Keyla A, McLean, Catriona A, Villemagne, Victor L, Parker, Michael W, Barnham, Kevin J and Miles, Luke A (2014). Do current therapeutic anti-Aβ antibodies for Alzheimer's disease engage the target?. Acta Neuropathologica, 127 (6), 803-810. doi: 10.1007/s00401-014-1290-2

Do current therapeutic anti-Aβ antibodies for Alzheimer's disease engage the target?

2014

Journal Article

Potent hepatitis C inhibitors bind directly to NS5A and reduce its affinity for RNA

Ascher, David B., Wielens, Jerome, Nero, Tracy L., Doughty, Larissa, Morton, Craig J. and Parker, Michael W. (2014). Potent hepatitis C inhibitors bind directly to NS5A and reduce its affinity for RNA. Scientific Reports, 4 (1) 4765. doi: 10.1038/srep04765

Potent hepatitis C inhibitors bind directly to NS5A and reduce its affinity for RNA

2014

Journal Article

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the Fab portion of the Alzheimer's disease immunotherapy candidate bapineuzumab complexed with amyloid-β

Crespi, Gabriela A N, Ascher, David B, Parker, Michael W and Miles, Luke A (2014). Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the Fab portion of the Alzheimer's disease immunotherapy candidate bapineuzumab complexed with amyloid-β. Acta Crystallographica. Section F, Structural Biology Communications, 70 (Pt 3), 374-7. doi: 10.1107/S2053230X14001642

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the Fab portion of the Alzheimer's disease immunotherapy candidate bapineuzumab complexed with amyloid-β

2014

Journal Article

Structural studies of Streptococcus pyogenes streptolysin O provide insights into the early steps of membrane penetration

Feil, Susanne C, Ascher, David B, Kuiper, Michael J, Tweten, Rodney K and Parker, Michael W (2014). Structural studies of Streptococcus pyogenes streptolysin O provide insights into the early steps of membrane penetration. Journal of Molecular Biology, 426 (4), 785-792. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2013.11.020

Structural studies of Streptococcus pyogenes streptolysin O provide insights into the early steps of membrane penetration

2014

Journal Article

mCSM: predicting the effects of mutations in proteins using graph-based signatures

Pires, Douglas E V, Ascher, David B and Blundell, Tom L (2014). mCSM: predicting the effects of mutations in proteins using graph-based signatures. Bioinformatics, 30 (3), 335-42. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btt691

mCSM: predicting the effects of mutations in proteins using graph-based signatures

2013

Journal Article

PEGylation of interferon α2 improves lymphatic exposure after subcutaneous and intravenous administration and improves antitumour efficacy against lymphatic breast cancer metastases

Kaminskas, Lisa M., Ascher, David B., McLeod, Victoria M., Herold, Marco J., Le, Caroline P., Sloan, Erica K. and Porter, Christopher J. H. (2013). PEGylation of interferon α2 improves lymphatic exposure after subcutaneous and intravenous administration and improves antitumour efficacy against lymphatic breast cancer metastases. Journal of Controlled Release, 168 (2), 200-208. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2013.03.006

PEGylation of interferon α2 improves lymphatic exposure after subcutaneous and intravenous administration and improves antitumour efficacy against lymphatic breast cancer metastases

2013

Journal Article

Structure of the N-terminal domain of human thioredoxin-interacting protein

Polekhina, Galina, Ascher, David Benjamin, Kok, Shie Foong, Beckham, Simone, Wilce, Matthew and Waltham, Mark (2013). Structure of the N-terminal domain of human thioredoxin-interacting protein. Acta Crystallographica. Section D: Structural Biology, 69 (Pt 3), 333-344. doi: 10.1107/S0907444912047099

Structure of the N-terminal domain of human thioredoxin-interacting protein

2012

Journal Article

Structural approaches to probing metal interaction with proteins

Parker, Lorien J, Ascher, David B, Gao, Chen, Miles, Luke A, Harris, Hugh H and Parker, Michael W (2012). Structural approaches to probing metal interaction with proteins. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 115, 138-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2012.02.015

Structural approaches to probing metal interaction with proteins

2012

Journal Article

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of human endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 2

Ascher, David B, Polekhina, Galina and Parker, Michael W (2012). Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of human endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 2. Acta Crystallographica. Section F: Structural Biology Communications, 68 (Pt 4), 468-71. doi: 10.1107/S1744309112006963

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of human endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 2

2011

Journal Article

Studies of Glutathione Transferase P1-1 Bound to a Platinum(IV)-Based Anticancer Compound Reveal the Molecular Basis of Its Activation

Parker, Lorien J., Italiano, Louis C., Morton, Craig J., Hancock, Nancy C., Ascher, David B., Aitken, Jade B., Harris, Hugh H., Campomanes, Pablo, Rothlisberger, Ursula, De Luca, Anastasia, Lo Bello, Mario, Ang, Wee Han, Dyson, Paul J. and Parker, Michael W. (2011). Studies of Glutathione Transferase P1-1 Bound to a Platinum(IV)-Based Anticancer Compound Reveal the Molecular Basis of Its Activation. Chemistry-A European Journal, 17 (28), 7806-7816. doi: 10.1002/chem.201100586

Studies of Glutathione Transferase P1-1 Bound to a Platinum(IV)-Based Anticancer Compound Reveal the Molecular Basis of Its Activation

Current funding

  • 2024 - 2027
    Broad-spectrum antibody therapy for Japanese Encephalitis serocomplex viruses
    Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics Foundation Grants
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2027
    Improving genetic diagnosis of autoimmune and autoinflammatory disease through an integrated multi-omics approach (MRFF 2022 GHFM - administered by ANU)
    The Australian National University
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2024
    Development of Molecular Property Prediction Models for Exploring Alternative Chemicals
    Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology
    Open grant

Availability

Professor David Ascher is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Protein structure guided precision medicine

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Phil Hugenholtz, Dr Stephanie Portelli

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Computational approaches to engineer and modulate G protein-coupled receptors

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Rational protein engineering and inhibition

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Post-transcriptional gene regulation: towards a better understanding of pathogenesis and medical applications

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Computer-aided drug design: predicting and mitigating drug toxicity

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Stephanie Portelli

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Computational approaches to engineer and modulate G protein-coupled receptors

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Developing structure-based deep learning methods to predict mutation effects on proteins

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Exploring Cardiotoxicity Risk Factors

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Thanh-Binh Nguyen

  • Master Philosophy

    Explore the dark spots in PDB

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Post-transcriptional gene regulation: towards a better understanding of pathogenesis and medical applications

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Using Deep Learning in Cell & Gene Therapy

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Stephanie Portelli

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Exploring Cardiotoxicity Risk Factors

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Thanh-Binh Nguyen

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Personalising treatments for genetic diseases

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Stephanie Portelli

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Deep Learning Algorithms for Polygenic Genotype-Phenotype Predictions and the development of genetics computation tools

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Towards the accurate functional characterisation of protein coding mutations

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Stephanie Portelli, Dr Thanh-Binh Nguyen

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Exploring Cardiotoxicity Risk Factors

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Thanh-Binh Nguyen

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Improving rational antibody design using machine learning

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Harnessing AlphaFold and explainable AI to better characterise human missense variants and diseases

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Stephanie Portelli, Dr Thanh-Binh Nguyen

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Machine Learning for Protein Dynamics: Predicting Post-Translational Modifications and Mutation Effects

    Principal Advisor

  • Master Philosophy

    Explore the dark spots in PDB

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Breaking the chain of inflammation through targetting NLR proteins

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Avril Robertson

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Computational design of targeted lipid technologies

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Megan O'Mara

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Unravelling the Physicochemical Drivers of Biomolecular Self-Assembly though Multiscale Simulations

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Evelyne Deplazes, Professor Megan O'Mara

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Therapeutic Resolution of Inflammation in the Central Nervous System for Neuroprotection in Parkinson's Disease

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Avril Robertson

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Therapeutic Resolution of Inflammation in the Central Nervous System for Neuroprotection in Parkinson's Disease

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Avril Robertson

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Use of structural phylogeny and reconciliation in molecular phylogenetics

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Kate Bowerman, Professor Phil Hugenholtz

Completed supervision

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