Curriculum Vitae

Education

PhD, Murdoch University School of Veterinary and Life Sciences

2016-2018: Molecular discovery and genomic characterisation of novel tick-borne bacteria in native Australian ticks.

Honors in Genetics (1st class), Monash University

2011-2012: My honors thesis investigated epigenetic interactions between the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis and its mosquito host Aedes aegypti.

Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland

2008-2010: During my BSc. I majored in both Genetics and Ecology, and grew a passion for investigating parasite-host, and endosymbiont-host interactions using molecular methods. I graduated with several Deans Commendations for High Achievement (GPA > 6.0).

Teaching

2019 Concepts in Parasitology ASP postgraduate intensive field course, Guest Lecturer, Australian Society for Parasitology.

2019 Parasitology: from molecules to ecosystems, Lecturer, Australian National University

2019 Invertebrate Zoology, Lecturer, Australian National University

2017 VET211 Principles of Infectious Diseases, Lab Demonstrator, Murdoch University

2017 VET272 Comparative Mammalian Biochemistry, Lab Demonstrator, Murdoch University

2017 BM364 Parasitology, Lab Demonstrator, Murdoch University

2015-2016 Lecture series on tick-borne diseases and tick identification for Masters of Medical Entomology, University of Western Australia

2013 BIO356 Genetics and Evolution, Lab Demonstrator, Murdoch University

Research employment and experience

2019-present: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Health and Biosecurity, CSIRO

2018-2019: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Investigating the microbiomes of synanthropic flies and their role in disease transmission, The Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO

2016-2018: PhD in Molecular Microbiology & Parasitology, The Vector and Water-Borne Pathogen Research Group, Murdoch University.

2013-2015: Research Assistant/Lab Manager, The Vector and Water-Borne Pathogen Research Group, Murdoch University

2012: Research Assistant, McGraw Vector Biology Lab, Monash University

Professional service

Peer reviewer for the following scientific journals:

Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases

Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases

Parasites and Vectors

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases

Technical skills

  • Laboratory molecular techniques
    • DNA and RNA isolation through a variety of techniques (eg. silica-membrane methods, phenol/chloroform, desalting)
    • PCR/qPCR
    • gel electrophoresis
    • Sanger sequencing
    • Ion Torrent NGS
    • Illumina MiSeq & NextSeq NGS
    •  DNA barcoding techniques (eg. 16S, 18S, CO1 barcoding)
  • Bioinformatics
    • Proficient with sequence analysis software (eg. Geneious, CLC Bio, USEARCH, QIIME, MEGA)
    • Bacterial whole genome assembly and annotation.
    • Bayesian and ML phylogenetic resoncstuction (MrBayes, MEGA, PhyML, RaxML)
    • In silico PCR primer/probe design
    • UNIX-based command line applications
    • Basic scripting and job automation on UNIX-based systems
    • Working in cloud-based and supercomputer computing environments
  • Cell culture
    • Media preparation
    • Cell line maintenance
  • Other lab techniques
    • Morphological identification of hard ticks
    • Tick dissections
    • Basic histology skills
    • Archive/biobank maintenance

Referees

Prof. Peter Irwin (p.irwin@murdoch.edu.au)

PhD supervisor

Prof. Una Ryan (una.ryan@murdoch.edu.au)

PhD supervisor