Our research

Current centre projects

Our multi-omic capabilities include multi-omics, genomics, functional genomics, glycomics and proteomics.

Learn more about our current research themes and their associated projects below.

Multi-omics

Complex biological systems, whether they be microbes, animals or plants, are frequently analysed using large-scale Omics approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, glycomics, proteomics, metabolomics and more. Combinations of different Omics analyses are highly synergistic – revealing significantly more information than studies undertaken individually.

Multi-Omics involves integrating two (or more) Omics data sets during data analysis, visualization and interpretation, with the aim of elucidating the mechanism of a chosen biological process. The more components we describe in detail, the better we can understand the system.

We use multi-omics to integrate data from different biological layers such as genomics, glycomics, metabolomics, proteomics and transcriptomics.

Each layer reveals something distinct:

• DNA shows potential
• metabolites and glycans show outcome of cellular and tissue activity
• proteins show function
• RNA shows activity.

By combining these datasets, we can trace how genetic information drives cellular behaviour and disease states. This approach helps us uncover complex interactions that single omics studies often miss.

Multi-omics can be used to identify biomarkers, refine diagnostics and guide precision interventions across medicine, agriculture and environmental science.

Student	ECR projects
Zeshan Ali	Adaptive regulatory evolution under lead toxicity: A multi-omics study of isolated house sparrow populations in Australian mining towns
Naaz Bansal	Multi-omics profiling of extracellular vesicles in drug-treated colorectal cancer cells
Suzanah C Boyd	Integrative multi-omic liquid biopsy profiling to predict
Dr Sayantani Chatterjee	Multi-omics validation of serum glycoform marker to predict septic shock severity
Sarah Derrien	Landscape genomics of native and invasive bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) under different viralimpacts
Emmanuel Ofosu Mensah	Integrated multi-omics profiling to define the anti-inflammatory and anticancer mechanisms of fucoidan
Lauren E. Richardson	Defining host glycan-microbiome interactions through integrated glycomics, proteomics, and targeted genomics
Sinead Robinson-Cast	Molecular characterisation of vitamin prototrophic saccharomyces cerevisiae grown in a bioreactor
Katarina Stuart	Genetic architecture underlying cold adaptation in the Alpine Ash (eucalyptus delegatensis)

Genomics

Genomics research offers insight into how organisms’ function, evolve and adapt. It provides a DNA footprint of the diversity of life, and how the change in nucleotide bases and their structure evolve to create novel adaptations and species.

Genomics provides insights from individuals, populations through to species with important insights for conservation by incorporating understanding of the processes of natural selection and genetic drift.

Comparative genomics helps us understand how variation translates into cellular and organismal phenotypes.

Functional genomics

Functional genomics is the study of what role genes play in a cell and how they interact to influence biological processes, traits and morphology.

It uses large-scale, systematic omics-based approaches like transcriptomics, transposon-insertion sequencing and CRISPR-screens to assign gene function and outline their relationship to an organism's biological pathways, moving beyond a gene-by-gene analysis.

Glycomics

Glycomics is the study of glycans, the complex sugars that decorate proteins and lipids on cell surfaces. These structures control many key biological processes, including cell communication, immune recognition and disease progression.

By mapping and analysing glycans, we can uncover critical information about how cells respond to stress, infection, or cancer, offering new insights for diagnostics and therapeutics.

Proteomics

Proteomics involves the characterisation of all of the protein components of a biological system at a given time under a given set of conditions. This includes the identification and quantitation of proteins and post-translational modifications which can give rise to a myriad of different proteoforms.

The proteome of a cell is not static, it is dynamic and responsive to changes in external stimuli. These data reveal active biological pathways, which can generate targets for precision therapies.