Professor Chen Chen

Professor Chen was appointed Professor and Chair of Endocrinology from 2008 in the University of Queensland after serving as head of the Endocrine Cell Biology at the Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research 1999-2007.

After training as a Medical Doctor at Shanghai Medical University in 1982, he graduated MSc in Physiology in Peking Union Medical College, Beijing and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Bordeaux, France in 1989 then worked in Glaxo Institute in the U.S.A. He came to Melbourne in 1992 to continue his research in Endocrine Cell Biology at the Prince Henry’s Institute before joining the University of Queensland in 2008.

His group focuses on the fundamental changes in the cell in relation to the function of organs and systems in commonly occurring diseases.

Professor Shaun Collin

Professor Collin's research falls broadly into the field of comparative neurobiology with emphasis on the neural basis of behaviour. Using models from the extant relatives of the first vertebrates (agnathans) to elasmobranchs and teleosts, various aquatic sensory systems (including vision, olfaction and electroreception) are investigated to establish broad concepts of plasticity and adaptation to environments as diverse as coral reefs and the deep-sea.

Anatomical, electrophysiological, molecular and behavioural techniques are currently being used to trace the prehistoric origins of colour vision, the visual ecology of deep-sea fishes and sharks, the regulation and patterned expression of visual pigments in the vertebrate retina and the development of sensory input to the shark and teleost brain.

Professor Justin Marshall

Professor Marshall is a visual ecologist and neurobiologist who studies  how animals such as reef fish, shrimps, parrots and cuttlefish use colour and polarised light for communication and camouflage.

Prof. Marshall has built underwater devices replicating the way fish eyes view colours and is now beginning to see the reef the way a fish would see it. He is developing techniques to get a fish-eye view of the health of the Great Barrier Reef and its corals.

"Whereas human eyes only have receptors for three colours (red, green and blue) some marine dwellers have as many as 12 different colour receptors," he says.  "Many fish see ultraviolet light and other colours not visible to humans."

Prof. Marshall's investigations show how fish and coral communicate and signal with colours outside the range visible to humans.

"By analysing these colours, we can get an idea of what coral and fish are 'saying' and how well marine life is withstanding the extreme pressure caused by the warming of oceans," he says.

His research interests include colour vision in the marine environment; communications between cleaner fish and their hosts; the role of colour; and colour communication in parrots and birds of paradise. A science graduate with honours in zoology from the University of St Andrews (Scotland), Dr Marshall in 1991 completed a Doctoral of Philosophy in Neurobiology at the University of Sussex, researching vision in mantis shrimps.

See his group's webpage at  www.uq.edu.au/ecovis.

A/Professor Peter Noakes

Peter Noaks gained his PhD with Professor Max Bennett at the University of Sydney, he then proceed to do postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Lewis Wolpert – University College London, and then in the laboratories of Professors Joshua Sanes and John Merlie – Washington University School of Medicine.

Dr Noaks then returned Australia and is now located at the University of Queensland. He is the convenor for the teaching of neuroscience to undergraduates within the faculty of Science, where he teaches cell and molecular neuroscience. He also maintains an active research lab, which is affiliated with the Queensland Brain Institute.

Peter’s research interests are to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms that bring about synapse formation, viability and effective function during development of the neuromotor system. His work uses a variety of neural mutant mice, to examine the role of nervous system activity in regulating the numbers of motoneurons needed to make effective connections with their targets, skeletal muscle.

He also works on the role of the innate immune system in the progression of motor neuron disease in animal models of this disorder. These research interests also extend to the underlying molecular mechanisms that drive formation and stability of the neuromuscular synapses, the specialised connection between motor neurons and skeletal muscle.

Dr Ethan Scott

Dr Scott's research addresses broad issues about how the brain produces behaviour. Using zebrafish as a model system, the group aims to characterise the circuits in the brain down to the detailed structures of individual neurons.

This involves transgenic fish expressing marker proteins in various brain regions of interest, which are then analyzed by a range of molecular techniques and confocal microscopy.

Once neural circuits have been described in detail, we silence the neurons composing them, and look for changes in the affected animal's behaviour.

The goal is to link regions and subregions of the brain to the complex behaviours that they are involved in generating. Behaviours being studied will expand to include fear, learning and memory.

Dr Walter Thomas
(Baker Heart Institute)

Dr Guy Wallis

Dr Wallis is using a range of brain imaging and advanced computer graphics techniques to study regions of the cortex in a project which promises unprecedented insight into the brain`s workings.

The work centres on how the brain entertains rival hypotheses or "opinions" when interpreting ambiguous information from the senses.

“If successful, the results will have broad impact in the field of human visual cognition and provide insight into the neural underpinnings of consciousness," he said.

“The work has the potential to inspire the design of artificial vision systems as well as more effective means of providing visual information in dynamic environments, such as when driving. Overall it will help researchers to more fully understand the essential linkages between perception, cognition and movement as they occur in a broad range of human skills.”

Professor Janet Wiles

Professor Wiles leads a study into how creatures as diverse as humans and bees navigate, which provides a pathway for major advances in understanding complex brain systems and helps treat and diagnose mental dysfunctions.

A new generation of robots that can learn about their physical environment by using animal navigation skills will be built by UQ scientists who have received a $3.3 million Federal Government grant.

The UQ-led team received one of three Thinking Systems grants announced by the government in July 2007.

The team will study the navigation skills of bees, rodents and humans as a way of understanding the function of the hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls navigation.