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Bryan is a graduate in medicine from the University of Queensland and holds a BA (Hons) degree in philosophy from the University of Western Australia. A medical specialist in psychiatry, he is a clinician researcher, who is Conjoint Professor at the Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, and Director of Genetics at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research. His primary research interest is the molecular genetics of schizophrenia, and holds a MD degree (University of Queensland) in this field. Since 1990, he has conducted studies, with national and international collaborators, to identify susceptibility genes for this disorder. He is the recipient of grants from the Australian NHMRC and the US NIMH.

The primary research goal is to identify and functionally characterise susceptibility genes for schizophrenia and related disorders. A special focus is on the study of large collaborative samples and ethnically homogeneous populations. Key methodologies used in the lab include genome-wide association studies, next-generation sequencing, transcriptome profiling of post-mortem brain samples, neurocognitive and neuroimaging phenotyping and induced pluripotent stem cells.

Current areas of interest include pharmacogenomics of clozapine treatment response, whole exome sequencing focused on de novo mutations, and the neuroimmunology of schizophrenia

Dr Moyle’s laboratory (www.moylelab.com) uses cutting edge technologies for the synthesis of peptides, protein expression, and protein semi-synthesis to gain insights into the functional roles played by various biochemical pathways, to engineer better protein and peptide therapeutics, and to improve the delivery characteristics of various therapeutic molecules. Specific current areas of interest are detailed below:

1. Subunit Vaccine Development: methods to develop improved vaccines through the combination of recombinant and synthetic approaches to improve immunopotency and tailor immune responses (links to reseach articles on semisynthetic vaccines and peptide vaccines; reviews on vaccine development).
2. Delivery Systems for Nucleic Acid-Based Molecules: multi-component synthetic and recombinant approaches to improve the cellular uptake, and targeted delivery of various oligonucleotide molecules (e.g. siRNA, mRNA, pDNA and CRISPR-Cas9) as an exciting approach to treat or prevent various diseases (links to research articles and reviews).
3. Deciphering the Roles of Post-Translational Modifications: The combination of peptide synthesis and protein semisynthesis to enable the production of large amounts of site-specifically modified species, that can be used to deconvolute the roles played by various post-translational modifications (links to research articles).
4. Peptide/Protein Drugs and Delivery: The study of methods to improve the delivery characteristics of peptide/protein drugs (e.g. poor oral absorption, instability to chemical/enzymatic degradation, and the inability to reach their site/s of action) through chemical engineering approaches.
5. New Approaches for Superbugs: the development of antivirulence approaches, and formulations (e.g. various types of nanoparticles - silver, protein, mesoporous silica), which reduce the ability for microbes to cause disease, and make them more readily treated with antimicrobials, by providing access to synergistic combinations, and reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance.

Information for Potential Students:

The Moyle lab considers applications from potential students and postdoctoral fellows with an interest in: i) infection control (including subunit vaccine and antimicrobial development); ii) delivery systems for peptide therapeutics; iii) targeted delivery systems; iv) studying the function of posttranslational modifications; and v) delivery systems for nucleic acid-based therapeutics (e.g. siRNA, shRNA, miRNA, mRNA, pDNA and CRISPR-Cas9). If you are interested in working in any of these areas please feel free to contact Dr Moyle (p.moyle@uq.edu.au). Please ensure that you supply an up to date CV; describe why you would like to work in the Moyle lab; provide a listing of publications (preferably with impact factors and citation counts); and indicate what skills you would bring to the lab. Detailed information on our laboratory is available at www.moylelab.com. Preference will be given to students and postdoctoral fellows who have their own funding.

Dr Moyle Biosketch:

Dr Moyle (H-index 30, >2600 citations; >95 publications; 13/8/2024; Google Scholar, ORCID, ResearcherID, and Publons profiles) received a PhD (Dec 2006) and a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons I) (Dec 2001) from The University of Queensland (UQ); graduated from the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia pre-registration pharmacist-training course (Nov 2002); and is registered with the Pharmacy Board of Australia. He currently works as an Associate Professor in the UQ School of Pharmacy, where he has been based since 2014.

Dr Moyle works in the fields of medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and drug formulation, investigating subunit vaccine development, outcomes associated with histone post-translational modifications, and methods to improve the delivery characteristics of oligonucleotide (e.g. siRNA and pDNA), peptide, and protein therapeutics. During his PhD, Dr Moyle developed methods that enabled the synthesis of pure, lipid adjuvanted peptide vaccines, using advanced chemical ligation techniques. In addition, the conjugation of mannose to combined prophylactic/therapeutic human papillomavirus type-16 vaccines, to target dendritic cells, was demonstrated to significantly improve vaccine anti-tumour activity. This work, conducted with leading researchers at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute (Prof Michael Good & Dr Colleen Olive), established Dr Moyle’s national and international profile in the field of vaccine development, resulting in 11 peer reviewed papers, including top journals in the field (J Med Chem; J Org Chem), as well as 6 review articles and 2 invited book chapters.

Dr Moyle undertook his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of one of the world’s premier chemical biologists, Professor Tom Muir (the Rockefeller University, NY, USA; now at Princeton University, NJ, USA). During this time he developed an extensive knowledge of techniques for protein expression, bioconjugation, bioassays, and proteomics, which represent an essential skill set required for this proposal. As part of this work, Dr Moyle developed novel synthetic routes to generate site-specific ADP-ribose conjugated peptides and proteins. This research was hailed as a major breakthrough in the field, leading to several collaborations, and an exemplary publication in the prestigious chemistry journal JACS. This vast body of work identified the enzyme (PARP10) responsible for mono-ADP-ribosylation of histone H2B, and demonstrated interactions between this modification and several proteins, including BAL, which is associated with B cell lymphomas. In addition, a number of robust chemical methods were developed to enable the synthesis of a complete library of methyl-arginine containing histones, which were incorporated into synthetic chemically-defined chromatin to investigate the site-specific effects of arginine methylation on histone acetylation. This work led to a collaboration with colleagues at Rockefeller to investigate the effects of histone arginine methylation on transcription.

Teaching:

Dr Moyle teaches into the following subjects in the UQ School of Pharmacy.

• PHRM3011 (Quality Use of Medicines) - course coordinator
• PHRM4021 (Integrated Pharmaceutical Development)
• PHRM3021 (Dosage Form Design)
• PHRM2040 (Drug Discovery)

Awards:

2016 - Health and Behavioural Sciences (HABS) faculty commendation for Early Career Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (ECCOSL)

2015 - ChemMedChem top 10 cited article of 2013 (link)

2014 - Highest ranked NHMRC development grant (2013; APP1074899)

2013 - Institute for Molecular Biology (IMB) Division of Chemistry and Structural Biology Prize

My current appointment is Director of Kidney Services at Redland Hospitals in Metro South, Brisbane, where I practice as a senior consultant nephrologist.

My research interests are varied and include post-transplant anaemia and iron metabolism, and novel measures of iron status such as hepcidin; improving dialysis outcomes though the implementation of evidence-based guidelines; kidney disease due to thrombotic microangiopathy (particularly aHUS) and the role of inhibitors of the complement system in kidney disease; and the use of honey to prevent infections in dialysis patients.

I am committed to teaching medical students and young nephrologists, and am actively involved in medical education at all levels.

Professor Alison Mudge is a clinician researcher based in the large Department of Internal Medicine and Aged Care at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. Her applied research focused on understanding and improving inpatient and post-hospital care for frail older Australians through coordinated multidiscipinary approaches. This has involved research and improvement collaborations with multiple healthcare disciplines (e.g. nursing, physiotherapy, nutrition and dietetics, occupational therapy, exercise science) and medical subspecialties (e.g. geriatrics, rehabilitation medicine, cardiology, vascular surgery, palliative care, anaesthetics, gastroenterology).

Alison was inaugural Clinical Director of the Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI) where she advocated strongly for the importance of implementation science approaches, and she has led numerous workshops and mentoring sessions in implementation science and practice including a seminar series within the Queensland Healthcare Improvement Fellowship program. She has been a Metro North Clinician Research Fellow and led competitive grants from NHMRC and MRFF. She advocates for clinician scientists and for authentic consumer engagement in research and service improvement, and is a highly respected undergraduate and gradute educator. She has served on the steering committee for leading Queensland clinical networks inlcuding the Statewide Older Persons's Health Clinical Network and Queensland Dementia, Ageing and Frailty Network, advocating successfully for changes to policy and practice to improve health and wellbeing of older Queenslanders.

Jochen’s research focusses on monitoring of trace organic pollutants, including pioneering work on sources, fate, monitoring techniques (including development of passive sampling techniques) and trends in human exposure to trace contaminants. More recently his group has been leading research in the field of wastewater epidemiology.

Jochen joined QAEHS in 1997 and was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship in 2012 to understand changes in chemical exposure through integrative sampling and systematic archiving. As part of his research program at QAEHS he has lead numerous national and international studies, such as Australia's National Dioxin Program, the Brominated Flame Retardant Program and a major study to investigate bush-fire emissions (the results of which are included in the UNEP Toolkit). He works closely with governments (state, federal and international including UNEP) on the development of systematic monitoring strategies, including for protection of the Great Barrier Reef. As part of his Future Fellowship, he has established an extensive sample archive, the Australian Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB), to allow retrospective analysis of changes in pollutant exposure in Australia.

Jochen’s work on passive samplers, bioanalytical techniques for emerging chemicals and wastewater epidemiology has received support from ARC and numerous industry partners.

Dr Samantha Mulcahy is the Research Program Manager for the Health and Wellbeing Centre for Research Innovation (HWCRI) and the Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralymic Studies (QCOPS) and is an affiliate researcher at the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at The University of Queensland. Dr Mulcahy leads strategic operations and management across the research programs which include the UQ HERA Program: The 360-Kids Community Network.

Dr Mulcahy's program of research includes how behaviour change occurs and how behaviour change strategies can be used to achieve effective outcomes in sitting reduction interventions. She is an expert in the field of workplace sedentary behaviour and the use of behaviour change strategies to achieve changes in health behaviours including physical activity and sedentary behaviour. She holds a Masters in Public Health (Health Promotion and Disease Prevention) and has extensive experience in partnership and stakeholder engagement and management of complex multi-year funded research projects and consultancies.

Dr Eleanor Mullen’s research centres on sustainable development and design of materials. Currently her postdoctoral research focuses on controlling the lifetime of biodegradable polymers in natural environments. At Trinity College Dublin Ireland she led research investigating life cycle analysis to guide sustainable nanopatterning tool design in the semiconductor industry. Having worked with industry partners at Trinity College Dublin on the Intel AMBER Spokes project, she developed a keen interest in balancing the functional requirements of materials for industrial applications with the principles of sustainability, aiming to support an environmentally responsible future. Experienced in developing sustainable materials and tools, with expertise in green chemistry, circular economy, ecotoxicology, and life cycle analysis.

Eleanor is the founder of Trinity Urban Garden (TUG), a community-based initiative designed to promote local and sustainable food production as a strategy to reduce reliance on packaging and foster public engagement with environmental sustainability.

Maximiliano Müller is a Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) Research Institute, The University of Queensland (UQ). Maximiliano completed his Bachelor's degree (with Honours) in Veterinary Science at The University of Chile in 2015 and his PhD in Animal Nutrition at UQ in 2021. His 4 years of research work at QAAFI have focused primarily on animal nutrition, appetite, digestive physiology, chemosensing and feed technology. In 2022, Maximiliano was awarded an Industry Placement by the Australasian Pork Research Institute (APRIL) to develop additional expertise on feed analyses and processing. He is currently involved in research projects related to transgenerational nutrition, heat tolerance, control of back fat deposition in pigs, animal welfare and feed processing. Maximiliano has also been the manager of the R&D Feed Mill project at UQ from 2022 to 2025 and is an active member of The Nutrition Society of Australia - The Animal Nutrition Special Interest Group and the QAAFI Science Seminar Committee. Maximiliano has published more than 12 peer-reviewed publications since joining QAAFI as a postdoctoral research fellow in mid 2021 to present (2025).

Robert Mullins holds a BPhil in Philosophy and a DPhil in Law from the University of Oxford. His research expertise is in legal philosophy and the theory of legal reasoning. Much of Robert's published work investigates the implications of different accounts of the meaning and use of deontic language developed by logicians and linguists for the understanding of legal rights, obligations, and authority relations. His most recent work focuses on logics of common law reasoning developed by scholars in Artificial Intelligence and Law.

Dr Mullins currently serves as Reviews Editor of the peer-reviewed professional journal, Law and Philosophy. He is an Associate Member of the ARC Centre for Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society.

Aisling Mulvihill is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Thorpe Lab at the Queensland Brain Institute. Her background spans frontline paediatric speech pathology practice, a PhD in Developmental Psychology, and postdoctoral research on early years development in both experimental and applied settings

Aisling's research investigates the cognitive and environmental mechanisms that support social-cognitive and self-regulatory development in early childhood, with particular a focus on adult-child interactions. She examines how adult-delivered mental state talk (i.e., talk about desires, thoughts, and emotions) fosters children's social-emotional development, and how children’s self-talk supports emerging self-regulation.

Her current work focuses on interactions within Early Childhood Education and Care settings and aims to inform interventions to that promote children's social-cognitive and emotional well-being. Aisling's translational work includes the creation of The Ant Patrol Children’s Stories, a series of children’s books designed to support children’s self-regulation.

Peter began his career helping to design MPAs in Belize, Central America. On realising how little science was available to guide this he moved to the University of Sheffield to undertake a PhD on the use of remote sensing for mapping coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves. After his PhD, Peter won a NERC Post-doctoral Fellowship to study ecological processes on coral reefs and moved to the University of Newcastle to join the Centre for Tropical Coastal Management Studies. He was then awarded a Royal Society Fellowship to integrate empirical ecological data into models of coral reefs with a view to studying how changes in human activity can affect the health of reefs. At this point he moved to the University of Exeter where he was made Professor at the age of 34. In 2010, Peter moved closer to coral reefs when he moved to the University of Queensland to take up an ARC Laureate Fellowship. He loves living in Australia! Peter was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation in 2010, and is also winner of the Rosenstiel Award for excellence in marine biology and fisheries, and the Marsh Award for contributions to marine conservation.

Professor Sagadevan Mundree is a world-leading expert in agricultural biotechnology, leading research and teams focused on making crops that are more resilient to environmental stresses such as drought and salinity, and value-addition to deliver nutritious products. He focuses on transdisciplinary solutions for challenges facing vulnerable populations in food scarcity and the effects of climate change on food quality and food production. He also integrates concepts of the circular economy to develop sustainable food production approaches. In collaboration with governments, industry, and Indigenous communities, Prof Mundree is creating innovative ways to solve global food challenges.

My work explores the digital cultures that increasingly shape our lives, combining a deep understanding of technical logics (code, infrastructures, architectures) with a critical awareness of race and class, gender and labor, epistemologies and ecologies. This interweaving “offers new and critical insight” (Prof Starosielski, NYU) and makes me an “original voice” (Prof Pasquale, Cornell), leading to my current role as an ARC Future Fellow. I have developed an international profile through six monographs with leading presses such as Automation is a Myth (Stanford), Technical Territories (Michigan) and Red Pilled (Transcript) as well as 45 articles as lead or solo author, with 25 in high ranked (Q1 or Q2) journals. My work has shaped current debates, being cited by The Guardian, the Washington Post, and appearing in Scientific American. My teaching has been praised by scholars and students and draws directly on my cutting-edge research to diagnose contemporary conditions. I actively mentor the next generation of scholars through regular workshops, seminars, and collaboration on real-world projects.

Professor Craig Munns is the Mayne Professor of Paediatrics and Director of the Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland. Professor Munns is also a Senior Medical Officer in Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Queensland Children’s Hospital. He graduated from The University of Queensland, before training in paediatrics and endocrinology at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane. Professor Munns completed his PhD in paediatric growth disorders through UQ. He then undertook a post-doctoral fellowship in paediatric genetic bone disorders at The Shriners Hospital for Children, Montreal, Canada. From 2004 to 2021, Prof Munns was Senior Staff Specialist in Genetic and Metabolic Bone Disorders and Paediatric Endocrinologist at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney. He also undertook roles as Clinical Program Director, Division of Diagnostic Services and Clinical Trials Lead at Kids Research. As Clinical Trials Lead his focus was on developing a research-intensive health system and introducing advanced therapeutics.

Professor Munns is an international expert in paediatric musculoskeletal disorders. His primary clinical and research interests are in diagnosis and management of primary and secondary bone disorders, including osteogenesis imperfecta, hypophosphataemic rickets, disuse osteoporosis and nutritional rickets. He has undertaken a wide range of investigator initiated and sponsored clinical trials, authored international consensus documents and has supervised numerous PhD and Masters students. Prof Munns is actively involved in national and international scientific societies. He was treasurer of Asia Pacific Paediatric Endocrine Society, is the inaugural treasurer of the International Society of Children’s Bone Health and has chaired the program organising committees Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group, Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society and International Conference of Children’s Bone Health.