Proteomics & Biomedicine
The research interests of the Proteomics & Biomedicine Research
group, led by Professor Garth Cooper, include diabetes, cardiovascular
andother metabolic diseases, human immunology, and neurodegenerative
disorders
Garth Cooper’s group has made major advances in the understanding of disease mechanisms in diabetes and related syndromes such as obesity and cardiovascular disease, and based on these mechanisms, to the development of effective new strategies for disease detection and therapy, with an emphasis on prevention of progression. Our group has developed an orally-active molecule which we recently identified and demonstrated to reverse cardiovascular disease in diabetes through regeneration of the diseased heart and arteries.
Kerry Loomes’ group is interested in myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX), which is involved in the breakdown of inositol compounds, and whose activity is increased in diabetes. The research has collaborative outreach into structural biology and synthetic chemistry areas and offers a platform for new therapeutic strategies for diabetes.
Rod Dunbar's team focuses on human immunology. A core project is the design and testing of peptide-based vaccines to stimulate T cells. These vaccines have applications as both therapeutic vaccines for cancer and preventative vaccines for infectious diseases.
Russell Snell’s group aims to unravel the molecular mechanisms of simple and complex neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Spinocerebellar ataxia. Utilizing knowledge of causal genes and their pathways, we are developing model systems with which to investigate the molecular pathogenesis of these disorders and ultimately to screen for and test potential therapeutic agents.
Professor Garth Cooper
Associate Professor Rod Dunbar
Dr. Kerry Loomes
Dr. Russell Snell