Research output per year
Research output per year
Director - Shine-Dalgarno Centre for RNA Innovation
Research activity per year
From 1986-91 Thomas Preiss studied Chemistry at the Philipps-Universität, Marburg (Germany) and the University of Bristol (UK), followed by PhD work (1992-95) at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK). He spent the next seven years (1995-2002) as a postdoctoral scientist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratories (EMBL), Heidelberg (Germany), in parallel also completing his Habilitation in Biochemistry [Permission to teach at the professorial level] at the Medical Faculty of the Universität Heidelberg (Germany). In 2002 he became a laboratory head at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney and held conjoint appointments at the University of New South Wales (Senior Lecturer, then Associate Professor). In 2011 he accepted a position as Professor of RNA Biology at ANU/JCSMR. Since 2022 he is the inaugural Director of the ANU Shine-Dalgarno Centre for RNA Innovation.
Dipl Chem (Marburg University, Germany) PhD (University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK), Habilitation (Heidelberg University, Germany)
Prof Preiss is a molecular biologist determining the mechanisms and transcriptome-wide patterns of eukaryotic mRNA translation as one of life’s core processes and its regulation by RNA-binding proteins and non-coding RNA as a means of controlling gene activity. He joined the translational control field in 1995 as a postdoctoral scientist and has since had a particular focus on mechanisms of translation initiation using yeast and mammalian cells and cell-free translation systems as his preferred models. In addition to his mechanistic work, he also studies global patterns of post-transcriptional control using microarray and next gen sequencing-based methods. After starting his own group he continued to investigate the role of the mRNA cap and poly(A) tail and associated protein factors in determining mRNA utilisation. These studies overlap with work on the discovery of miRNA targets and the unravelling of their mechanism of action. Employing next gen sequencing technology (RNAseq) his group is further pursuing interests in the area of RNA (mRNA, miRNA, tRNA, other noncoding RNA) processing, modification, polyadenylation and utilisation.
Areas of expertise:
Current student projects:
Projects can be devised to suit PhD or Honours/Masters level students.
Molecular Biology, PhD, Cytochrome C Oxidase: a Model System for Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation, University of Newcastle
1 Apr 1992 → 1 Sept 1995
Award Date: 1 Sept 1995
Chemistry, Master, Untersuchung der Transkriptionskontrolle des Maus Mamma Tumor Virus (MMTV). Ein in vitro System., University of Marburg
1 Oct 1990 → 1 Oct 1991
Award Date: 1 Oct 1991
Honorary Faculty Member, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
1 May 2014 → …
Senior Visiting Fellow, University of New South Wales
1 Aug 2007 → 1 Mar 2011
Conjoint Associate Professor, University of New South Wales
1 Sept 2006 → 1 Mar 2011
Faculty Member, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
1 Aug 2002 → 1 Mar 2011
Postdoctoral Researcher, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
1 Sept 1995 → 31 Jul 2002
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Preiss, T., Thordarson, P. & George, A.
22/06/21 → 30/06/25
Project: Research
Preiss, T., Eyras, E., Janapala, Y., Rana, Z., Ravindran, A. & Sneddon, A.
15/05/24 → 14/08/24
Project: Research
Gogoi, N., Jackson, C., Kluth, P., Preiss, T. & Torres, J. F.
3/03/23 → 31/12/23
Project: Research
Shirokikh, N., Bruestle, A., Burgio, G., Enders, A., Eyras, E., Fischer, T., Hayashi, R., McMorran, B., Preiss, T. & Schulte, K.
22/07/22 → 31/12/23
Project: Research