EMBL Australia at SAHMRI

EMBL Australia at SAHMRI

Australia is a member of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Europe’s flagship life sciences institution. EMBL Australia was founded to maximise the benefits of Australia’s associate membership of the EMBL and is supported by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program, an Australian Government initiative.

EMBL Australia’s flagship program is its network of research groups embedded in existing research institutes and universities across the country – the EMBL Australia Partner Laboratory Network (PLN). Following the EMBL model of providing talented young scientists with solid funding and the freedom to drive the development of ambitious new research, the PLN mentors and nurtures outstanding young scientists selected from an international pool by offering up to nine years of secure funding, enabling them to take big risks and ask big questions.

The South Australian node of the PLN is hosted at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and comprises three groups, supported by the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia and Flinders University.

Professor David Lynn is Director of the Computational and Systems Biology program at SAHMRI, the Scientific Director of the SA Genomics Centre and a Professor at the Flinders University College of Medicine and Public Health. Professor Lynn leads a multidisciplinary group of researchers that have advanced capacity in applying computational and experimental systems immunology methods to investigate how pathogenic and commensal microbes modulate the immune system in a range of different preclinical models and clinical cohorts. He also has an increasingly recognised research program in cancer systems biology.

Associate Professor Ville-Petteri Mäkinen accesses an exciting basic science framework and connections with the wider scientific community through the EMBL Australia network. His position as an EMBL Australia Group Leader allows him to reach out to the European parent organisation with access to people and expertise in genomics research. Through his EMBL association, A/Prof Makinen showcases the work his team undertakes at SAHMRI internationally in the form of seminars, symposia and student activities. EMBL Australia also enables A/Prof Makinen’s group members and students to gain valuable new skills and resources by being active in the organisation.

Visit the EMBL website or EMBL Australia website to find out more about the group’s global impact on research.