Director of The John Curtin School of Medical Research

Professor Elizabeth Gardiner is the 17th Director of the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR). She was also the Head of the Department of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics in JCSMR. She is Scientific Head of the National Platelet Referral and Research Centre at ANU and the Canberra Hospital. She has published 143 peer-reviewed research papers, commentaries and reviews in the area of platelet biochemistry and platelet function, particularly relevant to both thrombosis and bleeding in patients. She identified a novel mechanism for shedding of vascular receptors triggered by shear stress, enabling new capabilities in diagnostic and therapeutic reagent development.

Head of Animal Services

Dr Anna Acuna leads our team of dedicated, well trained animal staff in the care and management of the animal colonies housed in our facility. Along with monitoring the health and ethical treatment of the animals, Dr Acuna’s role ensures the facility maintains the highest possible standards for pathogen exclusion and quality control, minimising the impact on our clients’ research results.

Project management

The Facility comprises a diverse but complementary skill-base combining project management with laboratory-based expertise. Clients can request services to be provided or work with our team of specialists in coordinating the production of gene variant mice, phenotyping, genomics services with data collection, management and analysis. We have built on our years of experience to develop a comprehensive team capable of managing either small or national research projects through to international collaborations and commercial sector interests.

Bioinformatics

The APF team provides expertise in development of analysis workflows, pipeline engineering, large data storage and analysis and high performance computing support. Our team of computational biologists have solid research experience gained at large genome sequencing centres and have developed pipelines for variant detection in mouse and man for large national projects. We understand that getting data analysis done to a high standard requires bioinformaticians to become members of your research team for the life of the project.

Genomics

The Genomic revolution driven by Next Generation Sequencing is transforming medical research. The experienced APF team have utilised the technology advances to implement and validate a high throughput sequencing pipeline for variant detection in mouse and human. The team have many years’ experience in project design, sample preparation, and data analysis with a focus on quality and customer service. The team constantly reviews, improve and update their genomics services to meet the needs of the research community and to reflect advances in technology.

Phenomics

The APF combines scientific expertise, project management as well as laboratory-based expertise to undertake complex research investigations for the research community. Managing a screen or a range of assays around a particular cohort of samples or patients requires a meeting of minds as to the scientific intent and high standards of quality data production. Our teams regularly manage the production of gene variant mice, coordinate and perform demanding phenotyping assays and provide a range of data management and analysis expertise and services.