Australian Biochemist
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Australian Biochemist The Magazine of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Inc. April 2020, Volume 51, Number 1 VOL 51 NO 1 APRIL 2020 AUSTRALIAN BIOCHEMIST PAGE 1 ISSN 1443-0193 Table of Contents 3 Editorial Committee 4 From the President 7 Publications with Impact The Black Sheep of the Family Balancing the Batteries: the Importance of Coordinated Mitochondrial Protein Synthesis for Energy Production Plexin B2: Putting the Trash Out Targeting the Gut Epithelium to Manage Obesity Advanced Imaging Tips T Cell Target Recognition on its Head Cellular Couriers of Oncogenic Cargo 16 ASBMB Education Feature Improving Learning Outcomes from Undergraduate Research Experiences Teaching Students to Work Effectively in a Group Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology So, How Did I Do? Using Student Self-assessment to Steer Feedback 21 SDS Page From Undergrad to Postgrad: How to Survive the First Year of Your PhD 22 Competition: Word Search 23 ASBMB Medallist and Awardee Profiles 28 ASBMB Fellowship Profiles 30 Science meets Parliament 2019 Report 32 Sydney Protein Group: an ASBMB Special Interest Group 33 Election of Council 2021 34 Biochemistry on Stage 36 Great Expectations Unexpected Journeys Through Different Research Lands and Scientific Families 40 Boomerang Award Report 41 Intellectual Property Artificial Intelligence in Medicine – What is Patentable? 43 Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria – Science Talent Search 44 Australia Day Honour for ASBMB Member 45 In Memoriam 49 Our Sustaining Members 52 ASBMB Council 53 Directory Front Cover Artist’s rendition of the Golgi apparatus. By Chloe Gleeson. Australian Biochemist – Editor Tatiana Soares da Costa, Editorial Officer Liana Friedman © 2020 Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Inc. All rights reserved. PAGE 2 AUSTRALIAN BIOCHEMIST VOL 51 NO 1 APRIL 2020 Australian Biochemist Editorial Committee Editor Editorial Officer Dr Tatiana Soares da Costa Liana Friedman Department of Biochemistry and Email: [email protected] Genetics La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science La Trobe University Bundoora VIC 3086 Email: [email protected] Phone: (03) 9479 2227 Dr Doug Fairlie Dr Sarah Hennebry Olivia Newton-John Cancer FPA Patent Attorneys Research Institute and La Trobe 101 Collins Street University Melbourne VIC 3000 Heidelberg VIC 3084 Email: sarah.hennebry@ Email: [email protected] fpapatents.com Phone: (03) 9496 9369 Phone: (03) 9288 1213 Joe Kaczmarski Associate Professor Tracey Kuit Research School of Chemistry School of Chemistry and Molecular Australian National University Bioscience Canberra ACT 0200 University of Wollongong Email: joe.kaczmarski@ Wollongong NSW 2522 anu.edu.au Email: [email protected] Phone: (02) 4221 4916 Dr Erinna Lee Dr Nirma Samarawickrema La Trobe Institute for Molecular Department of Biochemistry and Science and Olivia Newton-John Molecular Biology Cancer Research Institute Monash University Heidelberg VIC 3084 Clayton VIC 3800 Email: [email protected] Email: nirma.samarawickrema@ Phone: (03) 9496 9369 monash.edu Phone: (03) 9902 0295 Dr Gabrielle Watson Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute Monash University Clayton VIC 3800 Email: gabrielle.watson@ monash.edu Phone: (03) 9902 9227 VOL 51 NO 1 APRIL 2020 AUSTRALIAN BIOCHEMIST PAGE 3 From the President Dear ASBMB Members This message is to let you know that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided to postpone ComBio2020 until 2022. The conference will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, with registration starting in late afternoon of Tuesday 27 September, and the full program running from Wednesday 28 September through to Friday 30 September 2022. Thanks to our great organising committee, the program is already very advanced with most of the symposium sessions, chairs and invited speakers in place. See the ComBio2022 website for more information. Between now and then, we will endeavour to keep our scientific community invigorated with online forums and other communications. We welcome suggestions! Stay safe and flatten the curve. Jackie Wilce (Chair, ComBio2022) and Joel Mackay (President, ASBMB) Well, the start of 2020 has been quite something. Through Twitter, I have now seen photos of more of my science colleagues’ pets than ever before, not to mention their spare rooms! It would certainly be fascinating to fast-forward to the and the conference organiser, Sally Jay, have been end of the year and see where the world lies. Over that doing a magnificent job over the last couple of years time and in the longer term, it will also be interesting in assembling the program and everything else that is to see whether there is any substantial shift in the required to organise a major meeting. To make sure attitude of both the government and the public towards that we don’t squander all of that effort, we made the basic, biomedical and other research. Biochemistry decision to postpone ComBio2020 to 27–30 September and molecular biology are key disciplines in the race 2022. The good news is that we’ve never been so far to unlock the secrets of COVID-19 and to generate advanced in our preparations for a ComBio! Several vaccines and effective treatments. Scientists have questions arise from this decision: probably never had quite such an urgent opportunity to be near the front of people’s consciousness, not to Is there going to be an ASBMB event this year? mention the opportunity to be the saviours. I have seen At this stage, we are not planning any face-to-face a number of comparisons drawn between this crisis and meetings. However, because one of the main functions the issue of climate change, so it will be particularly of ASBMB is to bring members together for discipline- interesting to see whether this situation has an impact related discussions, we would like to do something. on the climate debate in the longer term. Currently, we are considering what the best option would be. One option we are exploring is to hold an Conferences online symposium dedicated to the question: How have In this environment, the primary subject of discussion you dealt with the transition to online teaching – what on the ASBMB Executive and Council has been around has worked and what hasn’t? Another might be to have the issue of what to do about the ComBio2020 meeting. something more social, like an ASBMB online trivia Conference Chair, Jackie Wilce, and Program Chair, event, for example. A third could be to host an online Mark Hulett, together with their organising committee research-focused meeting; I have already seen at least PAGE 4 AUSTRALIAN BIOCHEMIST VOL 51 NO 1 APRIL 2020 From the President a couple of organisations advertise such meetings. This Other matters would also give us a chance to showcase the research Over the last year, Council has developed better of our 2020 award winners. Finally, if restrictions on guidelines for our State Representatives and our meeting in person ease up towards the end of the year, Special Interest Groups so that we can better serve the we might be able to move relatively quickly to host a membership, and give the State Representatives more couple of smaller local meetings that require less voice in shaping the Society. The website has also been organisation (and are consequently cheaper). A meeting updated and refreshed. of this type might also allow use to showcase the work In the coming year, I am keen to address several of the 2020 ASBMB award winners. We welcome any questions: other suggestions. • Should we champion a dedicated Education symposium? What is ASBMB now planning for 2021? • Should we reactivate an annual Heads of discipline Our plans for 2021 are to co-host the FAOBMB meeting to discuss shared issues and bring the Congress in Christchurch in November and to host an academic Biochemistry and Molecular Biology extended East Coast Protein Meeting in July. At the community closer together? moment, we still anticipate that these events will take • How can we strengthen our contribution to science place and we cross our collective fingers that they will advocacy? be able to be run successfully. Please let me know if there are other issues that you think should be considered by the ASBMB. What about 2023? In our original plans, ComBio2022 was scheduled to Council be held in Canberra. However, the Society recently Finally, I would like to thank all of the members of the decided to hold an ASBMB-only meeting in odd years. ASBMB Council for their work for the Society. Briony We have resolved to pursue that option for 2023. We Forbes as Secretary (being succeeded by Dominic Ng), are currently in discussions about potential organisers Marc Kvansakul with his hand on the purse strings, and and potential venues for that meeting. Jacqui Matthews as President Elect. Tatiana Soares da Costa is doing a great job as our magazine Editor, Awards and is also championing the ASBMB Twitter feed I’d like to congratulate our 2020 ASBMB award winners: @ITSASBMB, ComBio Twitter feed @ComBio2022 Professor Trevor Lithgow, Monash University (Lemberg and ComBio on Facebook. Please let her know if you Medal); Professor Colin Jackson, Australian National have your own Twitter account so that she can follow University (Shimadzu Research Medal); Professor Si it and make sure you follow us too! I would also like Ming Man, Australian National University (Eppendorf to acknowledge the fantastic support we get from Sally Edman ECR Award); Dr Nirma Samarawickrema, and Chris Jay (National Office) and Liana Friedman Monash University (SDR Scientific Education Award); (Editorial Officer and Webmaster). Dr Matthew Doyle, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda (Boomerang Award); and the ASBMB I even managed to get though to the end of this piece Fellowship recipients, Dr Amy Baxter, La Trobe Institute without mentioning toilet paper – oh, drat! for Molecular Science (the Fred Collins Award); Dr Steffi Cheung, University of Melbourne; Dr Mengjie Hu, Joel Mackay University of Melbourne; Anukriti Mathur, Australian President, ASBMB National University.