Overview
Background
David Craik (AO, FRS, FAA) is in the Centre for Chemistry and Drug Discovery at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Australia. He discovered the cyclotide family of circular proteins and has characterized the structures of many animal toxins including conotoxins from cone snail venoms. He heads a research team of 35 researchers whose current work focuses on applications of circular proteins, drugs in plants, toxins and NMR in drug design.
He is author of over 810 scientific papers, including 14 in Nature publications (Nature/Nature Communications/Nature Neuoroscience/Nature Structural Biology/Nature Chemical Biology/Nature Chemistry/Scientific Reports/Nature Protocols, 1 in Science, 12 in PNAS, 9 in JACS, 3 in Chemical Reviews, and 16 in Angewandte Chemie. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, appointed as an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia and has received numerous awards for his research, including the Ralph F. Hirschmann Award from the American Chemical Society (2011), Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research (2014), GlaxoSmithKline Award for Research Excellence (2014), the Vincent du Vigneaud Award from the American Peptide Society (2015),the FAOBMB Award for Research Excellence (2015) and the Cathay Award from the Chinese Peptide Society (2018). He received the Australian Academy of Science David Craig Medal in 2023. He is an Honorary Professor of Jinan University, Guangzhou and has an Honorary Doctorate from Kalmar University in Sweden.
Biography
David Craik obtained his PhD in organic chemistry from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia and undertook postdoctoral studies at Florida State and Syracuse Universities before taking up a lectureship at the Victorian College of Pharmacy in 1983. He was appointed Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Head of School in 1988. He moved to University of Queensland in 1995 to set up a new biomolecular NMR, held an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow (2015-2020) and is currently a NHMRC Fellow, as well as Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Peptide and Protein Science.
Key Discoveries
David Craik has made discoveries of new classes of proteins, generated new knowledge on their structure and function, and used this information to design and chemically re-engineer new classes of protein-based drug leads and agricultural pest control agents. In particular, his major achievements are:
- the discovery of cyclotides, the largest known family of circular proteins. As well as a circular backbone, cyclotides contain a knotted arrangement of cross-linking disulfide bonds, making them remarkably stable. His discovery of these proteins was sparked in part from anecdotal reports of medicinal practices in Africa where women make a tea from the plant Oldenlandia affinis by boiling it in water and sipping it during labour to accelerate child birth. He determined the structure of the bioactive component of this medicinal tea and found that it had an unprecedented head-to-tail cyclic peptide backbone combined with a cystine knot.
- the first structural and functional characterizations of prototypic circular proteins in higher organisms - Professor Craik was one of the first to recognize that other families of ribosomally synthesized cyclic peptides exist. As examples from bacteria and animals emerged, Professor Craik was at the forefront of their structural characterization, reporting the first structures of theta-defensins from animals and the threaded lasso peptide microcin J25 from bacteria, as well as new examples of cyclic peptides from plants.
- the development of artificially cyclized peptide toxins as drug leads – he developed an orally active peptide that is 100 times more potent than the leading clinically used drug for neuropathic pain.
Research Training
Professor Craik has trained more than 70 PhD students. He was awarded UQ’s Research Supervision Excellence Award in 2007 on the basis of his mentoring and innovations in postgraduate training, including his “writing retreats” to mentor students and postdocs on science writing skills. He received the Institute for Molecular Bioscience Individual Leadership Award in 2019. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Kalmar University, Sweden for his contributions to international student exchange programs, and is an Honorary Professor of Jinan University, Guangzhou.
Professional Activities
Professor Craik founded and chaired the 1st, 2nd and 3rd International Conferences on Circular Proteins (2009, 2012 and 2015) and was on the Scientific Program Committee for ISMAR 2021. He is on the Boards of six international journals, including Angewandte Chemie, ACS Chemical Biology, Chemical Biology and Drug Design, and ChemBioChem. He was on the Council of the American Peptide Society (2015-2021). He was the director two Brisbane-based biotech companies. He is on the Scientific Advisory Boards of James Cook University’s Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics (BMDT), the University of Wollongong’s Illawara Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI) and Enzytag. He conceived and supports two publicly accessible databases - Cybase on circular proteins (www.cybase.org.au), and conotoxins (www.conoserver.org).
Availability
- Professor David Craik is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), La Trobe University
- Doctor of Philosophy, La Trobe University
Research interests
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Discovery of bioactive peptides and peptide-based drug design
The Craik group focuses on the discovery and applications of small disulfide-rich proteins as leads in drug design. Such proteins often have potent biological activities and, because of their cross-linking disulfide bonds, usually have well defined three-dimensional structures that can be determined using NMR spectroscopy. NMR is one of the main techniques we use in the laboratory. The proteins we study come from animal and plant sources, as well as "designer" proteins we produce in the lab. In particular we have been exploring the bioengineering of circular proteins, based on our discovery of a naturally occurring family of cyclic proteins called cyclotides. By cyclising proteins and creating embedded knots within the structures using disulfide bonds we are able to significantly enhance the stability of proteins. We are applying our technology to the design of drugs for pain, cancer (prostate cancer, chronic myeloid leukeamia and melanoma), cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, and metabolic diseases (obesity and diabetes). Our goal is to overcome current limitations on the use of conventional proteins as drugs, i.e. their poor bioavailability and susceptibility to degradation in vivo. We are currently determining relationships between structure and activity in a wide range of cystine knot proteins, including those from plants, cone-snail venoms, snakes, spiders and frogs. Cystine knot proteins have applications in agriculture as well as in the development of pharmaceuticals, and in collaboration with Dr Marilyn Anderson at La Trobe University we have been examining the insecticidal properties of a range of disulfide rich proteins. The cyclotide proteins discovered in our laboratory show particular promise as "natural" insecticides against pests in a range of crop plants.
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Production of-based pharmaceuticals in plants
Our group is interested in using plants as ‘biofactories’ for producing high value peptide-based pharmaceuticals. The peptides are either expressed in the leaves of plants, which are harvested to allow extraction of the pharmaceutical product for conventional formulation or tableting. Alternatively, we can express the therapeutic peptides specifically in the seeds of plants so that the seed becomes the bio pill. This technology has the potential to make high-tech ‘designer’ medicines available to patients in developing countries as well as the potential to lower the costs of production of refined pharmaceuticals. This work is supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council and the Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundation.
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Structural biology of peptides and proteins
We use NMR spectroscopy to determine the structures of a wide range of peptides and proteins so that we can understand fundamental biological processes and use structural information for the development of pharmaceuticals or next generation agrichemicals. NMR allows structures to be determined in solution under physiologically relevant conditions.
Research impacts
Professor Craik is known internationally for his pioneering work on the discovery and study of naturally occurring circular proteins. Gene-encoded circular proteins were unknown when he started working on them in the 1990s, but it is now clear that their unique topology makes them remarkably stable compared to conventional proteins. Circular proteins are exciting leads for drug design and protein engineering applications, where resistance to breakdown by enzymes is critically important. In one example, Professor Craik's lab has been working on using a peptide from cone snail venom as a pain relief drug 100 times more potent than morphine. Circular proteins also have considerable potential as natural insecticides, diagnostic probes, and as tools in neuroscience. He has developed methods for using plants as ‘biofactories’ to make these peptides.
Specific Measures of Impact
- Author of more than 810 papers; h-index 104 (WOS), 120 (GS); Citations 41,824 (WOS), 53,342 (GS) and has four Highly Cited papers, with two cited more than 1300 times
- Editor of two books; NMR in Drug Design (CRC Press) and Plant Cyclotides (Academic Press)
- Professor Craik has given more than 600 presentations over his career, including 112 Plenary/invited lectures at national and international conferences and university colloquia or industry forums in 23 countries over the past 5 years.
- Numerous international and national awards including the Adrien Albert Award (RACI, 1993); ANZMAG Medal (2004); RACI H G Smith Medal (2006); ACS Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry (2011); Josef Rudinger Memorial Lecture Award, European Peptide Society (2012); La Trobe University Distinguished Alumnus Award (2013); GlaxoSmithKline Award for Research Excellence (2014); Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research (2014); Vincent du Vigneaud Award (American Peptide Society, 2015); Australian Research Council Australian Laureate Fellowship (2015); FAOBMB Award for Research Excellence (Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists, 2015); $1million Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award (2015); Institute for Molecular Bioscience Impact Award for Innovation (2017); Cathay Award, Chinese Peptide Society (2018); Institute for Molecular Bioscience Individual Leadership Award (2019), Australian Academy of Science David Craig Medal (2023)
- Appointment as an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia
- Fellow of the Royal Society
- Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
- Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, the Royal Society of Chemistry and a member of six other learned societies.
Community Engagement
- Feature article on Channel 10’s “The Project” (30/10/2018)
- Article in The Sunday Age and Sydney Morning Herald (Liam Mannix) 18th March 2018 “The botanist, the chemist and the painkilling lettuce” with longtime collaborator Professor Marilyn Anderson from La Trobe University.
- ABC Radio interview with David Curnow on “Medicines in Plants” 14th March 2016
- Named one of the Best & Brightest in Queensland for 2015, Courier Mail, Q Weekend, Dec 5-6, 2015
- Radio interview on conesnail envenomation, June 10th 2015 ABC News
- Catalyst documentary on “Plant Based Medicines”, aired 3rd Feb 2015, ABC2
- Radio National interview November following GSK Award 2014 with Fran Kelly, 27th November 2014
- Author of Wikipedia entry on cyclotides
- Press coverage (Courier Mail, UQ News) on development of lead compound for the treatment of pain 2010-2011
- European documentary on cone snail research televised in Europe in December 2013
Works
Search Professor David Craik’s works on UQ eSpace
2015
Journal Article
Exploring experimental and computational markers of cyclic peptides: charting islands of permeability
Wang, Conan K., Northfield, Susan Ellen, Swedberg, Joakim E., Colless, Barbara, Chaousis, Stephanie, Price, David A., Liras, Spiros and Craik, David J. (2015). Exploring experimental and computational markers of cyclic peptides: charting islands of permeability. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 97, 202-213. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2015.04.049
2015
Journal Article
In vivo efficacy of anuran rypsin inhibitory peptides against Staphylococcal Skin infection and the impact of peptide cyclization
Malik, U., Silva, O. N., Fensterseifer, I. C. M., Chan, A., Clark, R. J., Franco, O. L., Daly, N. L. and Craik, D. J. (2015). In vivo efficacy of anuran rypsin inhibitory peptides against Staphylococcal Skin infection and the impact of peptide cyclization. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 59 (4), 2113-2121. doi: 10.1128/AAC.04324-14
2015
Journal Article
Transcriptomic screening for cyclotides and other cysteine-rich proteins in the metallophyte Viola baoshanensis
Zhang, Jun, Li, Jintian, Huang, Zebo, Yang, Bing, Zhang, Xiaojie, Li, Dehua, Craik, David J., Baker, Alan J. M., Shu, Wensheng and Liao, Bin (2015). Transcriptomic screening for cyclotides and other cysteine-rich proteins in the metallophyte Viola baoshanensis. Journal of Plant Physiology, 178, 17-26. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2015.01.017
2015
Journal Article
Key residues in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor β2 subunit contribute to α-conotoxin LvIA binding
Zhangsun, Dongting, Zhu, Xiaopeng, Wu, Yong, Hu, Yuanyan, Kaas, Quentin, Craik, David J., McIntosh, J. Michael and Luo, Sulan (2015). Key residues in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor β2 subunit contribute to α-conotoxin LvIA binding. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 290 (15), 9855-9862. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M114.632646
2015
Journal Article
Solution structure, aggregation behavior, and flexibility of human relaxin-2
Haugaard-Kedstrom, Linda, Hossain, Mohammed Akhter, Daly, Norelle L., Bathgate, Ross A. D., Rinderknecht, Ernst, Wade, John D., Craik, David J. and Rosengren, Karl Johan (2015). Solution structure, aggregation behavior, and flexibility of human relaxin-2. ACS Chemical Biology, 10 (3), 891-900. doi: 10.1021/cb500918v
2015
Journal Article
Optimization of the cyclotide framework to improve cell penetration properties
Huang, Yen-Hua, Chaousis, Steph, Cheneval, Olivier, Craik, David J. and Henriques, Sonia Troeira (2015). Optimization of the cyclotide framework to improve cell penetration properties. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 6 (17) 17, 1-7. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2015.00017
2015
Journal Article
Creating a specialist protein resource network: a meeting report for the protein bioinformatics and community resources retreat
Babbitt, Patricia C, Bagos, Pantelis G, Bairoch, Amos, Bateman, Alex, Chatonnet, Arnaud, Chen, Mark Jinan, Craik, David J, Finn, Robert D, Gloriam, David, Haft, Daniel H, Henrissat, Bernard, Holliday, Gemma L, Isberg, Vignir, Kaas, Quentin, Landsman, David, Lenfant, Nicolas, Manning, Gerard, Nagano, Nozomi, Srinivasan, Narayanaswamy, O'Donovan, Claire, Pruitt, Kim D, Sowdhamini, Ramanathan, Rawlings, Neil D, Saier Jr., Milton H, Sharman, Joanna L, Spedding, Michael, Tsirigos, Konstantinos D, Vastermark, Ake and Vriend, Gerrit (2015). Creating a specialist protein resource network: a meeting report for the protein bioinformatics and community resources retreat. Database The Journal of Biological Databases and Curation, 2015 (bav063). doi: 10.1093/database/bav063
2015
Book Chapter
Engineering venom peptides to improve their stability and bioavailability
Akcan, Muharrem and Craik, David J. (2015). Engineering venom peptides to improve their stability and bioavailability. Venoms to Drugs: Venom as a Source for the Development of Human Therapeutics. (pp. 275-289) edited by Glenn F. King. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Royal Society of Chemistry. doi: 10.1039/9781849737876-00275
2015
Book Chapter
Natural functions and structure-activity relationships of cyclotides
Oguis, Georgianna Kae, Kan, Meng-Wei and Craik, David J. (2015). Natural functions and structure-activity relationships of cyclotides. Advances in Botanical Research. (pp. 187-226) edited by Craik, DJ. Maryland Heights, United States: Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/bs.abr.2015.10.001
2015
Book Chapter
Discovery of peptide drugs from natural sources
Henriques, Sonia Troeira and Craik, David J. (2015). Discovery of peptide drugs from natural sources. Peptide chemistry and drug design. (pp. 203-245) edited by Ben M. Dunn. Hoboken NJ, United States: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781118995303.ch6
2015
Conference Publication
Pharmaceutical applications of cyclotides
Craik, D. J., Wang, C. and Poth, A. (2015). Pharmaceutical applications of cyclotides. American Society of Pharmacognosy Annual Meeting, Copper Mountain, Colorado United States, 25-29 July 2015. Stuttgart, Germany: Georg Thieme Verlag. doi: 10.1055/s-0035-1556162
2015
Conference Publication
Delineating toxin:lipid:ion channel interactions for rationally sodium channel inhibitors design
Schroeder, Christina, Henriques, Sonia, Mobli, Mehdi, Chaousis, Stephanie, Walsh, Phillip, Thongyoo, Panumart and Craik, David (2015). Delineating toxin:lipid:ion channel interactions for rationally sodium channel inhibitors design. 29th Annual Symposium of the Protein Society, Barcelona Spain, Jul 22-25, 2015. Hoboken, United States: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. doi: 10.1002/pro.2823
2015
Conference Publication
Cyclic penta- and hexa leucine peptides without N-methylation are orally absorbed
Kok, Woan Mei, Hill, Timothy A., Lohman, Rink-Jan, Hoang, Huy N., Nielsen, Daniel S., Scully, Conor G., Schroeder, Christina I., Colless, Barbara, Bernhardt, Paul V., Edmonds, David, Griffith, David, Rotter, Charles, Ruggeri, Roger, Price, David, Liras, Spiros, Craik, David and Fairlie, David (2015). Cyclic penta- and hexa leucine peptides without N-methylation are orally absorbed. American Chemical Society Meeting, x, 2015. Washington, DC United States: American Chemical Society.
2015
Journal Article
Effects of cyclotides against cutaneous infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus
Fensterseifer, Isabel C. M., Silva, Osmar N., Malik, Uru, Ravipati, Anjaneya S., Novaes, Natasha R. F., Miranda, Paolo R. R., Rodrigues, Elaine A., Moreno, Susana E., Craik, David J. and Franco, Octavio L. (2015). Effects of cyclotides against cutaneous infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Peptides, 63 (3), 38-42. doi: 10.1016/j.peptides.2014.10.019
2015
Journal Article
Therapeutic conotoxins: a US patent literature survey
Durek, Thomas and Craik, David J. (2015). Therapeutic conotoxins: a US patent literature survey. Expert Opinion in Therapeutic Patents, 25 (10), 1159-1173. doi: 10.1517/13543776.2015.1054095
2015
Conference Publication
Cyclotides, stable drug scaffolds that enter cells after binding to PE-phospholipids
Henriques, S. T., Huang, Y. -H., Chaouis, S., Sani, M. -A., Poth, A. G., Separovic, F. and Craik, D. J. (2015). Cyclotides, stable drug scaffolds that enter cells after binding to PE-phospholipids. 10th European Biophysical Societies Association (EBSA) European Biophysics Congress, Dresden, Germany, Jul 18-22, 2015. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.
2014
Journal Article
Two Blast-independent tools, CyPerl and CyExcel, for harvesting hundreds of novel cyclotides and analogues from plant genomes and protein databases
Zhang, Jun, Hua, Zhengshuang, Huang, Zebo, Chen, QiZhu, Long, Qingyun, Craik, David J., Baker, Alan J. M., Shu, Wensheng and Liao, Bin (2014). Two Blast-independent tools, CyPerl and CyExcel, for harvesting hundreds of novel cyclotides and analogues from plant genomes and protein databases. Planta, 241 (4), 929-940. doi: 10.1007/s00425-014-2229-5
2014
Journal Article
Insights into the molecular flexibility of theta-defensins by NMR relaxation analysis
Conibear, Anne C., Wang, Conan K., Bi, Tao, Rosengren, K. Johan, Camarero, Julio A. and Craik, David J. (2014). Insights into the molecular flexibility of theta-defensins by NMR relaxation analysis. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 118 (49), 14257-14266. doi: 10.1021/jp507754c
2014
Journal Article
Holocyclotoxin-1, a cystine knot toxin from Ixodes holocyclus
Vink, Simone, Daly, Norelle L., Steen, Natalie, Craik, David J. and Alewood, Paul F. (2014). Holocyclotoxin-1, a cystine knot toxin from Ixodes holocyclus. Toxicon, 90 (1), 308-317. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2014.08.068
2014
Journal Article
Improving on nature: making a cyclic heptapeptide orally bioavailable
Nielsen, Daniel S., Hoang, Huy N., Lohman, Rink-Jan, Hill, Timothy A., Lucke, Andrew J., Craik, David J., Edmonds, David J., Griffith, David A., Rotter, Charles J., Ruggeri, Roger B., Price, David A., Liras, Spiros and Fairlie, David P. (2014). Improving on nature: making a cyclic heptapeptide orally bioavailable. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 53 (45), 12059-12063. doi: 10.1002/anie.201405364
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor David Craik is:
- Available for supervision
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Available projects
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Applications of cyclic peptides in drug development
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Structure activity relationships of conotoxins and application in the development of drugs for pain
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Using plants as factories for producing next generation peptide-based pharmaceuticals
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the antifungal activity of cyclotides from butterfly pea
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Angeline Chan
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Doctor Philosophy
Using plants as factories for producing next generation peptide-based pharmaceuticals
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Thomas Durek
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Doctor Philosophy
Applications of cyclic peptides in drug design
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Yen-Hua Crystal Huang
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Doctor Philosophy
Development of peptide-based inhibitors for crop protection
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang, Professor Brett Collins
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Doctor Philosophy
Development of novel peptide based drug leads for chronic myeloid leukaemia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Simon de Veer, Dr Thomas Durek
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Doctor Philosophy
Development of novel cell penetrating peptides as cancer therapies.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Angeline Chan
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Doctor Philosophy
Discovery and Development of Substrate-Based Peptide Kinase Inhibitors
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Yen-Hua Crystal Huang, Dr Conan Wang
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Doctor Philosophy
Exploring delivery strategies for cyclotide-based therapeutics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang, Dr Yen-Hua Crystal Huang
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Doctor Philosophy
Development of commercially viable cyclic peptide production for the protection of the Great Barrier Reef
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang, Dr Thomas Durek, Professor Linda Lua
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Doctor Philosophy
Accelerating design and optimisation of next-generation ecofriendly insecticides in picolitre bioreactors
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Yen-Hua Crystal Huang, Dr Conan Wang
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Doctor Philosophy
Next-generation IL-2 mimics for immunotherapy
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Di Yu, Dr Conan Wang
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Doctor Philosophy
A new molecular technology platform for design and production of ultra-stable peptides
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang
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Doctor Philosophy
Selective modification and chemical synthesis of peptides & proteins for drug discovery applications
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang, Dr Thomas Durek
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Doctor Philosophy
Plant-based production of antimicrobial peptides
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mark Jackson, Dr Nicole Lawrence
Completed supervision
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Application of transpeptidases for peptide and protein engineering
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Thomas Durek
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Molecular tools for peptide and protein engineering
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Thomas Durek
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Discovery, production, and application of plant cyclic peptides
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mark Jackson
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Nematicidal properties of natural cyclotides and expression of therapeutic cyclotides in plants
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mark Jackson
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Structural Modifications to Optimise the Oxidative Folding and Activity of Cyclotides
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang, Dr Simon de Veer
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating approaches for the design and delivery of disulfide-rich peptide therapeutics
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang, Dr Yen-Hua Crystal Huang
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Elucidating cyclotide biosynthetic pathways for plant-based recombinant expression
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mark Jackson
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Discovery and Design of Plant-Derived Cyclotides for Medicinal Applications
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Yen-Hua Crystal Huang, Dr Angeline Chan
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Enzymes that make-or-break peptide bonds in cyclotide biosynthesis
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Thomas Durek
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Structures and Activities of Cystine Knot Peptides from the Violaceae Plant Family
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Yen-Hua Crystal Huang, Dr Angeline Chan
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Solving painful problems: Developing potent and selective NaV channel inhibitors from animal venom
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Irina Vetter
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Engineering serine protease inhibitors using cyclic peptides and sequence-defined libraries
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Simon de Veer
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
From Farm to Pharm: Taking plant pharmaceuticals from research to production
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mark Jackson
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
The compatibility of trypsin inhibitor cyclotides with plant-based recombinant expression systems
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mark Jackson
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Mining for neuropeptides: A bioinformatic and biochemical approach to characterise neuropeptides in animal venoms
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Markus Muttenthaler
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Engineering of Cyclic Disulfide-Rich Peptides for Applications in Drug Design
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Thomas Durek
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
The Effect of Naturally Derived Peptides on Animal Behaviour
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Thomas Durek
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Discovery and applications of disulfide-rich peptides in drug design
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Angeline Chan
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Plant derived cyclic peptides: from discovery to biotechnological applications
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mark Jackson
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Clitoria ternatea (butterfly pea) cyclotides: Insights on functional diversity, regulation and biotechnological applications
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mark Jackson
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Engineering the ribbon isomer of alpha-conotoxins in the drug design application
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Yen-Hua Crystal Huang
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Engineering Cyclotides as Scaffolds for Peptide-Based Drug Design
Principal Advisor
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Applications of sortase A in disulfide-rich peptide engineering
Principal Advisor
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Harnessing Plants to Produce Cyclic Peptide Drugs
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mark Jackson
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
Chlorotoxin as a natural scaffold for the development of drugs
Principal Advisor
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
Structure-activity relationships and development of disulfide-rich cyclic peptides as pharmaceutical templates
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
The Science and Business of Novel Therapeutics: The Need for a Complete Picture
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Richard Clark, Professor Damian Hine
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Characterisation and applications of theta-defensins
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Johan Rosengren
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Molecular Modeling and Drug Design of Alpha-conotoxins with Therapeutic Applications
Principal Advisor
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2012
Doctor Philosophy
Proteomics as a tool for rapid detection and characterisation of cyclic peptides: A path to discoveries in cyclotide biosynthesis and evolution
Principal Advisor
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2012
Doctor Philosophy
PEPLINK: A Fragment-Based Method for Screening Peptides as Drug Leads
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Richard Clark
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2011
Doctor Philosophy
The Discovery, Isolation and Characterisation of Cyclic Trypsin Inhibitors from Momordica cochinchinensis and other Cyclotides
Principal Advisor
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2011
Doctor Philosophy
Design and discovery of cyclic peptides with applications in drug development
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Richard Clark
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2010
Doctor Philosophy
The story of a-conotoxins, Vc1.1 and RgIA, on their journey to becoming therapeutics
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Richard Clark
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2010
Doctor Philosophy
The mode of action of cyclotides: Functional studies of the prototypic cyclotide kalata B1
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Adjunct Professor Andrew Kotze
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2009
Doctor Philosophy
The development of the cyclotide MCoTI-II as a molecular engineering framework in drug design
Principal Advisor
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2009
Doctor Philosophy
Bioactivity grafting of cyclic peptides: structure activity studies of grafted cyclotides and SFTI-1
Principal Advisor
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2007
Doctor Philosophy
STRUCTURAL AND DYNAMIC STUDIES OF THE CYCLOTIDES AND THEIR PRECURSORS
Principal Advisor
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2007
Doctor Philosophy
BIOSYNTHESIS OF CIRCULAR PROTEINS IN PLANTS
Principal Advisor
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2006
Doctor Philosophy
STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITY STUDIES OF CYCLOTIDES
Principal Advisor
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2006
Doctor Philosophy
STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY STUDIES OF CYCLIC PEPTIDIC TRYPSIN INHIBITORS
Principal Advisor
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2006
Doctor Philosophy
CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF CYCLOTIDES
Principal Advisor
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2006
Doctor Philosophy
STUDIES OF STRUCTURE AND MOLECULAR MOTIONS OF CYCLIC PEPTIDES FROM THE VIOLACEAE AND THE CUCURBITACEAE PLANT FAMILIES
Principal Advisor
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2005
Doctor Philosophy
ISOLATION AND STRUCTURAL ELUCIDATION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS FROM INDONESIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS
Principal Advisor
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2005
Doctor Philosophy
STRUCTURAL AND EVOLUTIONARY STUDIES OF BACKBONE CYCLISED PROTEINS
Principal Advisor
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2005
Doctor Philosophy
DIVERSITY AND STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CYCLOTIDES
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emerita Professor Jenny Martin
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2003
Doctor Philosophy
CYCLISATION CYCLIC PERMUTANTS AND SAR OF SMALL DISULFIDE RICH PROTEINS
Principal Advisor
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2003
Doctor Philosophy
CYCLIC, DISULFIDE-RICH PEPTIDES
Principal Advisor
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2003
Doctor Philosophy
STUDIES OF NOVEL DISULPHIDE BONDED CYCLIC PEPTIDES
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Plant Cyclotides: Evolution, Biosynthesis and Application of Circular Cystine Knot Mini-Proteins
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Structure-Activity Relationships in Biotechnology: Scientific and Business Perspectives
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Damian Hine
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Discovery, production, and development of disulfide-rich peptides for drug design and development
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang, Dr Thomas Durek
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the use of antimicrobial cell-penetrating peptides to target bacteria inside host cells
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nicole Lawrence
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
The development of peptide-based cholesterol-lowering therapeutics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Conan Wang
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Development of peptide-based anticancer drugs targeting intracellular protein-protein interactions
Associate Advisor
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Backbone cyclised tachyplesin analogues: modified host defence peptides with anticancer and cell-penetrating properties
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nicole Lawrence
-
2019
Doctor Philosophy
The trimolecular concept: exploiting the lipid membrane in the rational design of potent and selective inhibitors for voltage-gated sodium channels
Associate Advisor
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Characterizing therapy induced adaptive phenotypic plasticity leading to acquired drug resistance in cancer
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Helmut Schaider
-
2014
Doctor Philosophy
Marine natural wonders and the beginning of their journey towards the pharmaceutical market
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Richard Clark
-
2013
Doctor Philosophy
MCoTI-II and Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Cyclic Peptides as Therapeutic Leads in the Treatment
Associate Advisor
-
-
2012
Doctor Philosophy
Engineering and Discovery of Bioactive Disulfide-rich Peptides
Associate Advisor
-
-
2009
Doctor Philosophy
Secondary Metabolites from Durio SPP. : The Indigenous Indonesian Fruit Plant
Associate Advisor
-
2007
Doctor Philosophy
THE STRUCTURE, ACTIVITY & ENGINEERING OF TWO DISULFIDE-BONDED CONOTOXINS
Associate Advisor
-
2006
Doctor Philosophy
STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISATION OF NOVEL X-CONOTOXIN GID
Associate Advisor
-
2003
Doctor Philosophy
PROBING CALCIUM CHANNEL SELECTIVITY OF PEPTIDE TOXINS
Associate Advisor
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor David Craik directly for media enquiries about:
- agricultural pests
- Biology - structural
- biopills
- cancer
- chronic pain
- cone snails
- cyclotides
- Drug design (with nuclear magnetic resonance)
- drug development
- drug discovery
- drugs in plants
- insecticide
- multiple sclerosis
- NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance)
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
- pain
- peptides
- Protein research
- Protein stabilisation
- Protein structure determination
- Structural biology
- venom
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