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 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
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 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 student supervision
- Registered to supervise
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Comprehensive translational profiling and STE AI uncover rapid control of protein biosynthesis during cell stress
Horvath, A., Janapala, Y., Woodward, K., Mahmud, S., Cleynen, A., Gardiner, E. E., Hannan, R. D., Eyras, E., Preiss, T. & Shirokikh, N. E., 22 Jul 2024, In: Nucleic Acids Research. 52, 13, p. 7925–7946 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access5 Citations (Scopus) -
Prediction of m6A and m5C at single-molecule resolution reveals a transcriptome-wide co-occurrence of RNA modifications
Mateos, P. A., Sethi, A. J., Ravindran, A., Srivastava, A., Woodward, K., Mahmud, S., Kanchi, M., Guarnacci, M., Xu, J., Yuen, Z. W. S., Zhou, Y., Sneddon, A., Hamilton, W., Gao, J., Starrs, L. M., Hayashi, R., Wickramasinghe, V., Zarnack, K., Preiss, T. & Burgio, G. & 3 others, , 9 May 2024, In: Nature Communications. 15, 17 p., 3899.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
63 Citations (Scopus) -
Selective footprinting of 40S and 80S ribosome subpopulations (Sel-TCP-seq) to study translation and its control
Wagner, S., Bohlen, J., Herrmannova, A., Jelínek, J., Preiss, T., Valášek, L. S. & Teleman, A. A., Oct 2022, In: Nature Protocols. 17, 10, p. 2139-2187 49 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
13 Citations (Scopus) -
Rapid In Vivo Fixation and Isolation of Translational Complexes from Eukaryotic Cells
Janapala, Y., Woodward, K., Lee, J., Rug, M., Preiss, T. & Shirokikh, N. E., 2021, In: Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2021, 178, e62639.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access3 Citations (Scopus) -
Target-Specific Profiling of RNA m5C Methylation Level Using Amplicon Sequencing
Sibbritt, T., Schumann, U., Shafik, A., Guarnacci, M., Clark, S. J. & Preiss, T., 26 Oct 2021, Methods in Molecular Biology. Humana Press Inc., p. 375-392 18 p. (Methods in Molecular Biology; vol. 2404).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus)
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NHMRC 2024 Equipment Grant - Equipment for preclinical mRNA production and testing
Preiss, T. (PI), Burr, M. (CoI), Fischer, T. (CoI), Gardiner, E. (CoI), George, A. (CoI), Palmer, S. (CoI) & Perriman, A. (CoI)
27/08/25 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
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Identifying the intracellular localisation and isoforms of up to five lncTNBC in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Preiss, T. (PI), Eyras, E. (CoI), Janapala, Y. (CoI), Rana, Z. (CoI), Ravindran, A. (CoI) & Sneddon, A. (CoI)
15/05/24 → 14/08/24
Project: Research
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Enabling Nanotechnology for Multidisciplinary Research and Innovation
Gogoi, N. (PI), Jackson, C. (CoI), Kluth, P. (CoI), Preiss, T. (CoI) & Torres, J. F. (CoI)
3/03/23 → 31/12/23
Project: Research
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NHMRC Small Equipment Grant 2022 - Luna FX7 Automated Cell Counter - Link to ARIES 41237
Shirokikh, N. (PI), Bruestle, A. (CoI), Burgio, G. (CoI), Enders, A. (CoI), Eyras, E. (CoI), Fischer, T. (CoI), Hayashi, R. (CoI), McMorran, B. (CoI), Preiss, T. (CoI) & Schulte, K.-M. (CoI)
22/07/22 → 31/12/23
Project: Research