Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
1998 …2024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

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.

Qualifications

Dipl Chem (Marburg University, Germany) PhD (University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK), Habilitation (Heidelberg University, Germany)

Research Interests

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:

  • Gene Expression (Incl. Microarray And Other Genome Wide Approaches)
  • Epigenetics (Incl. Genome Methylation And Epigenomics)
  • Systems Biology
  • Proteomics And Intermolecular Interactions (Excl. Medical Proteomics)
  • Cell Metabolism
  • Bioinformatics
  • Mycology
  • Cell Development, Proliferation And Death
  • Enzymes
  • Cardiology (Incl. Cardiovascular Diseases)
  • Cancer Cell Biology

Current student projects:

  • Messenger RNA and noncoding RNA function in cardiac biology and cancer
  • Gene regulation through interactions between RNA, enzymes and metabolites
  • Enzymology and function of epitranscriptomic modifications in mRNA
  • Tracking factor footprints to reveal the intricacy and control of translation initiation
  • Design and optimisation of mRNA therapeutics

Projects can be devised to suit PhD or Honours/Masters level students.

 

Education/Academic qualification

Molecular Biology, PhD, Cytochrome C Oxidase: a Model System for Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation, University of Newcastle

1 Apr 19921 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 19901 Oct 1991

Award Date: 1 Oct 1991

External Scholarly Memberships and Affiliations

Honorary Faculty Member, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute

1 May 2014 → …

Senior Visiting Fellow, University of New South Wales

1 Aug 20071 Mar 2011

Conjoint Associate Professor, University of New South Wales

1 Sept 20061 Mar 2011

Faculty Member, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute

1 Aug 20021 Mar 2011

Postdoctoral Researcher, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

1 Sept 199531 Jul 2002

Research student supervision

  • Registered to supervise

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