Events

Please join us next Wednesday, 28 October, at 12 pm in the AIBN Seminar Room for a seminar by Dr Marios Koutsakos from the University of Melbourne, 'Mapping the evolution and diversity of influenza B viruses'. His talk will cover the antigenic characterisation of influenza B viruses spanning 1940 to 2021, the molecular basis of antigenic drift, and how epistasis enables antigenic change while preserving viral fitness. He will also present a global seroprevalence study of more than 1900 serum samples from nine pinniped species, which raises questions about the long-held assumption that influenza B circulates exclusively in humans.

Please join us for the next chemistry seminar on 26 October by Professor Vinh Nguyen from the School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales. Vinh is the 2026 awardee of the RACI Mary Garson Award. This seminar will discuss his groups adventure on the use of simple acid catalytic processes to promote interesting isodesmic reactions for the olefination of carbonyl compounds, which eventually leads to the deconstructive-reconstructive editing of cyclic ketones.

On behalf of the Molecular Bioscience Seminar Series coordinators, please join us next Wednesday, 21 October, at 12 pm in the AIBN Seminar Room for a seminar by Dr Mary Petrone from the University of Sydney. Her talk will explore unique genetic features of marine invertebrate RNA viruses that suggest virus–host relationships in basal invertebrates differ fundamentally from those in higher-order animals, and what these findings reveal about changing selection pressures throughout animal evolution.

It is our pleasure to announce our next chemistry seminar on Monday, 19 October by Dr Cameron Shearer, Conversion of Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) to Fluoride using Light and Bubbles.In this presentation, he will discuss our progress in the development of materials and processes for the photocatalytic degradation of PFAS, and findings on the effect of co-contaminant and our efforts to improve degradation rate by pre-treatment of PFAS solutions prior to ultrasonic degradation.

We have an MBS seminar on Wednesday, 14 October at 12pm in the AIBN Seminar Room. We welcome A/Prof Debnath Ghosal from the University of Melbourne to present “Decoding the structural logic of drug-resistant biofilms”. Please come and support the MBS seminar series.

Our next Chemistry seminar will be held on Monday, 12 October by Prof Fengwang Li from the University of Sydney. He will present '
Adaptive interfaces for electrified chemical synthesis', and in this seminar he will discuss his team's efforts to develop such selectively adaptive interfaces using electrochemical CO2 reduction and ammonia oxidation reactions as model systems. Please note that this lecture is at 3pm in room 50-T103.

Please join us Friday, 2 October for the next instalment of the Infection and Immunity Seminar Series.There will be three short talks from Dr Adriana Pliego Zamora, Dr Nhu Nguyen, and Christopher Ang.

Please join us for the next MBS seminar on Wednesday 23 September at 12pm in the AIBN Seminar Room. We welcome Dr Leah Roberts (UQ Frazer Institute) to present “Understanding plasmid-mediated dissemination of antimicrobial resistance”. Please come and support the MBS seminar series.

The SCMB Chemistry Seminar Series welcomes Dr Philip Norcott from Flinders University to present 'Using synthetic tools to enhance the sensitivity of magnetic resonance'. Please join us for the seminar on 21 Sept at 2pm.

Please join us for our next MBS seminar on Tuesday 15 September at 1pm in the AIBN Seminar Room. We welcome Dr Emma Grant from La Trobe University to present “Characterisation of human T cell responses towards human and avian influenza viruses”. Please come and support the MBS seminar series.

Please join us for our next chemistry seminar on 14 September by Prof Siegfried R. Waldvogel, Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion. He will present 'Electrifying Organic Synthesis'. Please note that this seminar will be held in the lecture room 50-T105 (Hawken Engineering).

Please join us for an MBS seminar on Friday, 4 September at 11am in the AIBN Seminar Room. We welcome Distinguished Professor M. Denise Dearing from the University of Utah to present “Doubling down on detox: how mammalian herbivores adapt to dietary toxins ”. Please come and support the MBS seminar series. If you would like to meet with Prof. Dearing, please contact Elizabeth Gillam (e.gillam@uq.edu.au).

Please join us for the next chemistry seminar on 31 August by Prof Luke C. Henderson. This presentation will explore how molecular and surface chemistry can be used to manipulate these interfaces, moving from fundamental chemical understanding towards advanced and multifunctional materials.

It is our pleasure to welcome Professor Matthias Hess (UC Davis) to present “Can we rewire microbial systems towards more desirable functions?”. In this seminar, he will take us inside the fascinating world of the rumen microbiome and show how multi-omics can deepen our understanding of this complex ecosystem and help to advance more sustainable livestock production and global food security.

This year's Skerman Lecture will be delivered by Dr Masaru Nobu from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

We have an MBS seminar on Wednesday, 19 August at 12pm in Hawken Engineering room N202. It is our pleasure to welcome Dr Adi Idris from QUT to present 'Developing RNA-based gene targeting therapies against viral infections – A new class of antivirals'. Please come and support the MBS seminar series.

Please join us for the next Chemistry seminar on 10 Aug at 2p, Dr. Rishi Shivhare will present 'Tracing Chirality Across Length Scales in Organic Semiconductors'.

We have an MBS seminar on Wednesday 5 August at 12pm in the AIBN seminar room. We welcome our very own Dr Bruna D Batista from UQ/CSIRO to present “Bringing woody weeds into the lab: fast bioassays for herbicide discovery and biocontrol compatibility”. Please come and support the MBS seminar series.

On behalf of the Infection and Immunity Seminar series convenors. Please join us for a special Infection and Immunity seminar session showcasing three early-career researchers from QIMR Berghofer. This will be a great opportunity to hear about exciting work spanning arbovirus biology, spatial and single-cell transcriptomics, brain organoids and viral neuropathology. We hope you can join us and support our visiting QIMR ECR speakers.

On behalf of the Molecular Bioscience Seminar Series coordinators, please join us next Wednesday for an Infection and Immunity–themed seminar by Prof Kirsten Spann, QUT. Professor Spann will discuss her group’s work using human primary nasal cells to investigate susceptibility to respiratory virus infection, identify biomarkers of disease susceptibility and explore potential treatments for upper respiratory infections.

It is our pleasure to announce SCMB's next chemistry seminar on 20 July by Dr Sofia Canola, Czech Academy of Sciences (FZU). She will present recent work in the field, focusing on how the combination of experiments with accurate quantum-chemical calculations and modelling allow them to access unique information and to guide the design of experiments. Showing how the imaging capability of STM helps them follow the mechanism of molecular photoreactions, by visualizing elusive intermediates and tracking precursor structural changes. She will also show how STM luminescence spectroscopy can be employed to study single molecules and their aggregates, giving access to information beyond conventional spectroscopy, such as dark excited states, and spatial maps of molecular excitons with atomic resolution.

On behalf of the Infection and Immunity Seminar Series convenors, please join us this Friday (10 July) for the sixth instalment of the 2026 series. We have three great speakers joining us: 1) Dr Cameron Bishop, Research Officer, Emerging Viral Diseases Lab, QIMR Berghofer; 2) Lachlan Walker (PhD Candidate, Schembri Lab); 3) Dr Connor Scott, Postdoc, Watterson Lab, SCMB & Chappell Lab, AIBN

We have an MBS seminar on Thursday, 9 July at 12pm in the AIBN seminar room. It is our pleasure to welcome Dr Selene Fernandez-Valverde from UNSW to present “Evolution as a lens into lncRNA functionality”. Please come and support the MBS seminar series.

Our next chemistry seminar on 29 June by A/Prof Santosh Rudrawar, titled 'Building a Chemical Toolbox'.

Please join the SBB theme for this month's seminar, presented by A/Prof Seth Cheetham and Dr Pie Huda.