Professor Emad El-Omar

Director of the MRC

Professor El-Omar graduated in Medicine from Glasgow University, Scotland, and trained as a gastroenterologist. He worked as a Visiting Scholar and Scientist at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee and National Cancer Institute, Maryland, USA, and was Professor of Gastroenterology at Aberdeen University, Scotland, for 16 years before taking up the Chair of Medicine at St George and Sutherland Clinical School, UNSW, Sydney, Australia. He is the Editor in Chief of the journal, Gut. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Prof El-Omar has 20 years of gut microbiome research as part of his expertise. His other research interests include inflammation-driven gastrointestinal cancer, Helicobacter pylori infection and inflammatory bowel disease.

Professor Michael Grimm

He has a longstanding research interest and productivity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), linked with clinical leadership in this sub-specialty. He is frequently called upon to review grants and fellowships in IBD-related fields, nationally and internationally, and to contribute roles related to his expertise at local, national and international conferences. He is a former President of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA) and was a member of its Council for eight years. Professor Grimm is a leader in IBD research with collaboration in both basic science and clinical arenas. He has supervised PhD students and is actively involved with the UNSW Medical Program. He runs an active IBD clinic that uses biologic therapy and brings valuable insight to the MRC.

Dr Fatima El-Assaad

Dr El-Assaad is the Senior Research Associate at the MRC, coordinating all the research activity and strategy within the MRC. She graduated with first class honours in Medical Science and was awarded her PhD from the University of Sydney in 2013 for her research into brain injury in malaria. Her work was the first demonstration that plasma microparticles – previously thought to be inert remnants of cell membrane – are in fact active contributors to the microvascular lesions that cause brain injury in malaria. In 2015, Dr El-Assaad was awarded the UNSW Sydney Vice Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to study host-pathogen interactions in view of identifying drug targets, biomarkers and designing translatable personalised therapy and alternatives to antimicrobials. Her current interests lie in the role of the microbiome in mental health, neuroscience and healthy aging.

Professor Georgina Hold

Prof Hold attained her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry (Toxicology) from Surrey University, United Kingdom, in 1995, followed by PhD at Glasgow University in 1999. She then moved to Aberdeen University, where her research focussed on understanding how microorganisms in the human gastrointestinal tract contribute to disease initiation and progression. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2014 and spent a year at Harvard School of Public Health. She was attracted to the MRC’s research programme and was appointed as Professor at UNSW in October 2017. Her research interests include understanding the impact of the gut microbiota on the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease and microbial therapeutics.

Associate Professor Amany Zekry

A/Prof Amany Zekry is a Clinical Academic at St George and Sutherland Clinical School, UNSW Sydney. She is a Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist at St George Hospital. She leads a research group investigating the role of the microbiome in the immunopathogenesis of liver disease and liver cancer in obesity. Her research group has published novel data on the role of adipocytokines in mediating liver injury and impairing the immune response. Her current work aims to define the microbiome signature associated with liver cancer in obesity.

Professor Marissa Lassere

Professor Lassere is a Rheumatologist who in 2002 co-founded the Australian Rheumatology Association Database (ARAD), an on-going long-term safety national database of patients on biologic treatments for rheumatic conditions. She is chief investigator on a 2017 Australian Arthritis & Autoimmune Biobank Collaborative, which adds a biobank arm to ARAD. She has a unique expertise in Clinimetrics – patient-reported measures, clinical measures, and imaging measures. She has been a member of International Biometric Society, International Society for Bayesian Analysis, International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, Health Informatics Society of Australia, American Medical Informatics Society, and Society for Clinical Trials. She brings extensive statistical expertise to the MRC.

Professor Maija Kohonen-Corish

Prof Kohonen-Corish has a long track record of discovery in cancer research, including the genetic basis of colon cancer, translational research in colon and lung tumours and the development of mouse models. She completed her PhD in human genetics at John Curtin School of Medical Research in Canberra. She then established a laboratory at the Australian National University to study the genetic basis of Lynch Syndrome. She was the head of colon and lung cancer research at Garvan Institute between 2002 – 2018 and is currently the Director of the Centre for Lung Cancer at the Woolcock Institute. She has joined the MRC to investigate the microbiome in lung cancer and its links to the efficacy of immunotherapy.

Dr Lan Gong

Dr Gong is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the MRC. After completing his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at UNSW, Dr Gong worked as a Research Fellow at Monash University investigating host-pathogen interactions especially autophagic responses against various human pathogenic bacteria. His current research focuses on understanding the role of the microbiome in liver diseases, including hepatitis, obesity-related non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Dr. Howard Chi Ho Yim

Dr Yim is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the MRC. He completed his PhD in infectious diseases and innate immunity at The University of Hong Kong. He studied the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, infections and type I diabetes when he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Monash University, Australia. In 2013, he was awarded the NHMRC Australia-China Exchange Early Career Fellowship. He acts as a Specialist Advisor for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australian Government. Dr. Yim’s current research focuses on the investigation of the role of gut microbiota in the development of colorectal cancer. He is interested in understanding the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer and identifying the host or microbial factors leading to this disease. He is also interested in studying the role of gut microbiota in regulating other gastrointestinal diseases. The goal of his research is to translate the research outcomes into therapeutic and preventive strategies to tackle or protect against these diseases.

Dr. Xiao-Tao Jiang

Dr. Xiao-Tao Jiang leads the bioinformatics unit at the MRC. He obtained his PhD in 2017 at the University of Hong Kong by studying the microbiome of activated sludge within a large-scale metagenomics cohort. He developed the antibiotic resistant genes analyzing bioinformatics platform ARGs-OAP1.0/2.0 for multi-metagenomics samples to fight antimicrobial resistance. He has extensive experience in next-generation data analysis, bioinformatics and industrial experience at China’s BGI the world’s largest genome sequencing centre. His current research interest lies in using multi-omic technologies and bioinformatics algorithms to study the role of the microbiome in human disease.

Dr Fan Zhang

Dr Fan Zhang is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the MRC. He obtained his PhD in Bioinformatics in 2017 at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The research work he has conducted is mainly focus on large-scale data analysis, Bioinformatics and Machine-Learning. He studied the Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing when he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Genome Institute of Singapore. His current research focuses on the data analysis of high-throughput sequencing data.

Dr Xin-Yi Chua

Dr Xin-Yi Chua is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the MRC. She completed her PhD adopting machine learning approaches to investigate transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of pathogenic versus non-pathogenic strains at the Queensland University of Technology. She was previously the Head of Informatics with QFAB supporting life science research analysing next-generation sequencing data; then further upskilled her research experience with CSIRO/QUT monitoring biodiversity using environmental DNA. Dr Chua is particularly interested in critically examining the scope of bioinformatics approaches and visual analytics as a means of bridging the gap between bioinformatics and clinical applications.

Naomi Strout RN/RM

Naomi is the Project Manager & Executive Officer for the MothersBabies study at the MRC. She is a dual trained Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife (Distinction), with extensive experience working with children from birth to 18 years of age. Prior to working in research Naomi has nursed in oncology/haematology, neonatal intensive care (NICU) and adolescent health. She comes to the MRC with a strong background in the coordination in paediatric clinical research, assisting investigators and commercial organisations to develop innovative treatment methods and improve healthcare for children. Her passion for the microbiome and how it can impact on the long-term health outcomes stems from her midwifery training – healthy mothers (and fathers) are the key step in making healthy babies and children for the future.  

Dr Miriam Jackson

Dr Jackson completed her PhD investigating the extracellular matrix and cell involvement in cartilage degradation leading to osteoarthritis at the Kolling Institute, The University of Sydney. Her post-doctoral work led to the novel finding that post-traumatic osteoarthritis has a distinct temporal pattern of synovial inflammatory cell infiltration. Dr Jackson undertook a postdoctoral position in the Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Research Unit, The University of Sydney investigating the effect of senescence on extracellular matrix components and cell adhesion to biomaterials. Dr Jackson gained experience in the gut microbiota field at the Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, investigating gut microbiota-derived extracellular vesicles and their impact on immune homeostasis. Dr Jackson’s current research focuses on understanding the role of the microbiome in liver diseases, including hepatitis, obesity-related non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Dr Anita Raposo

Dr Raposo is a research assistant at the MRC. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science with first class honours from Western Sydney University in 2015 and will be awarded her PhD from the same university in 2019 for her research characterising protein arginine methylation in glioblastoma. Her work found differences in the expression levels of the enzymes responsible for arginine methylation (PRMTs) between cancerous and non-cancerous cells and identified PRMTs as potential therapeutic targets in glioblastoma. Ms Raposo’s current research focuses on understanding the role of the microbiome in liver diseases, including hepatitis, obesity-related non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Dr Michelle Fitzmaurice

Dr Michelle Fitzmaurice is a Research Officer at UNSW Microbiome Research Centre (MRC).   She graduated in Human Nutrition with Honours and was awarded a PhD in Biochemistry at Ulster University (2013) for her work in diabetes, biomarker discovery and protein glycation.  Following a sabbatical working as a Nutritionist in industry, Michelle has returned to research as the study coordinator for the Healthy Optimal Australian Microbiome study.  Additionally, she supports the MothersBabies project at UNSW MRC. 

Michelle is also a Registered Nutritionist and has a broad range of research interests including the microbiome, diabetes and infant/maternal nutrition on developmental programming. 

Dr Saroj Khatiwada

Dr Saroj Khatiwada is a Research Assistant at the MRC. He was awarded his PhD in 2020, from UNSW Sydney, for his research on how the nutritional interventions in parents influence the metabolic health of their offspring. He is an expert in nutrition, biochemistry and microbiology across clinical and experimental models of obesity and liver cancer. He has published more than two dozen original research articles in several areas such as thyroid diseases, antimicrobial resistance, obesity, nutrition intervention, and microbiome, in high-ranking journals. At the MRC, he is studying how faecal transplants from liver cancer patients influence the progression of liver cancer in an animal model of NAFLD/liver cancer. His research interests include the role of microbiota and microbial metabolites in liver diseases and gastrointestinal diseases. 

Dr Daniella Susic

Dr Susic is a clinical research fellow in the field of obstetrics and a PhD candidate at the MRC. She has undertaken speciality training through the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG). Under the supervision of Dr Amanda Henry and Prof Emad El-Omar, she is working on the Microbiome Understanding in Maternity Study (MUMS) trying to establish if there are causal links or associations between the action and composition of microbiome during pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes. She will study each woman and her baby for a year following birth. She is an enthusiastic team member and very passionate about the potential impact that this important scientific research will have on the clinical practice of obstetrics.

Dr Jason Behary

Dr Jason Behary is a Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist who works at St George Hospital in Sydney and a PhD candidate at the MRC. After completing his fellowship at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney, he commenced his research into the role of the intestinal microbiome in gastrointestinal and liver cancer under the supervision of A/Prof Amany Zekry and Prof Emad El-Omar. Jason is also passionate about the education and training of junior doctors. He is a Conjoint Associate Lecturer at the University of New South Wales and the current Network Director of Physician Education and Training, St George and Sutherland Hospital Basic Physician Training Network.

Dr Lana Pasic  

Lana Pasic holds a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours in Microbiology (2013), Masters of Medicine in Science in Immunology and Infectious Diseases (2016) and a PhD in infectious diseases from The University of Sydney (2021). Her PhD focused on the epidemiology and genotyping of nosocomial infectious fungi, especially focusing on optimizing and integrating next generation sequencing into routine diagnostics. Lana joined the MRC as a Research Officer for the MothersBabies Study and has a keen interest in the way the maternal microbiome impacts and shapes the health of infants. Additionally, Lana currently contributes to the MRC Social Committee and MRC Writing Support Committee.  

Milena Katz

Milena Katz is a graduate of the University of Sydney and is a dual qualified Accredited Practising Dietitian and secondary science educator. Milena has wide ranging experience in clinical nutrition, community health program delivery and education of health care professionals. Since 2008 she has worked for South Eastern Sydney Local Health District and is currently a Research Project Manager with the MRC. Milena is interested in food and evolution, complementary medicine and anti-ageing. She is passionate about spreading the word on good nutrition particularly about the nutrition status of older adults and consumers within aged care facilities. Milena was a spokesperson for the Dietitian’s Association of Australia for 8 years and has worked with print media, radio and television to promote good nutrition to the Australian public. Milena joins the MRC as a research officer on the Healthy Optimal Australian Microbiome study and a PhD student driving the FAITH study which focuses on nutrition in older adults, inflammation, frailty and the microbiome in collaboration with the School of Population Health.  

Chloe Hicks

Ms Hicks is an Honours student studying at the MRC. She recently completed a Bachelor of Medical Science at the University of NSW, majoring in Human Pathology. She has knowledge on a broad range of topics, including biochemistry, microbiology and physiology. She is currently working on a honours project under the supervision of Professor El-Omar and Dr El-Assaad. This project involves investigating the role of the microbiome in endometriosis. They hope to discover a link that may have potential use in diagnostics, or as a novel therapeutic. After completing Honours, she aims to complete a Doctor of Medicine.

Niki Tashvighi Tehrani  

A lifetime science-lover, with a particular interest in emerging theories, Niki joined the MRC team as a Research Assistant in 2020. She graduated from the University of Sydney with a Master’s in Infectious Diseases, Immunology in 2019, following an undergraduate degree in Microbiology which she competed in 2016. Ms. Tashvighi has a broad range of experience in blood collection, microbiology, and cell biology techniques. She is recently working on various projects including the MothersBabies study providing high quality laboratory analysis, quality control, and data management. She has a keen interest in the role of the Microbiome in autoimmune diseases, particularly Multiple Sclerosis. With her interest in the mysteries of the human microbiome as a potential source of novel therapeutics in infectious diseases and chronic illnesses, she aims to make important contributions to clinical research by pursuing an MD degree and combining it with Microbiome Research in MS. 

Jordan Stanford

Ms Stanford is a PhD scholar at the University of Wollongong and a visiting researcher at the MRC. She is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and graduated with first class honours in Nutrition and Dietetics. She has a broad range of experience in nutrition and health service delivery research as well as having worked in clinical health, public health and private industry settings. She is currently undertaking research investigating nutrition-based therapies and the microbiome in pre-dialysis adults with chronic kidney disease designed to elicit beneficial gut microbiome alterations and improved clinical outcomes. She hopes to support projects of MRC through her skills in designing and conducting food, nutrition and health research using rigorous dietary methodologies and clinical dietary trials.

Dr Sj Sijie Shen

Dr Sj Sijie Shen is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the MRC. His research investigates the intricate interactions between host immunity and gut microbiota, and how alterations in the gut contributes and modulates inflammation in the liver. By better understanding the mechanisms of how the “gut-liver axis” impacts liver inflammation and disease, he hopes to find how modifying the gut microbiota can prevent or halt the progression of liver cancer.

Dr Shen has a special interest in the role of diet in immune responses and disease progression and modification. Prior to his current role, Dr Shen trained as a postdoctoral fellow at UTS / Centenary Institute investigating the importance of microbiota in respiratory diseases. He completed his PhD at Monash University (2019) examining the interplay between the diet, the gut microbiota and neutrophils in a mouse model of colitis. 

Dr Betty Wu

Dr Wu is a gastroenterologist with interest in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). She graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2011 with first class honours. She completed her specialist training at St George, Sutherland and Liverpool hospitals. In 2019, she joined the MRC family to commence post-graduate research looking into role of microbiome in IBD. She has received the prestigious Crohn’s and Colitis Australia scholarship to undertake this project.

Paris Tavakoli

Ms Tavakoli (BA, BS, MS) is a PhD scholar at the MRC. She graduated with a Master of Human Genetics from The University of Sydney in 2015. She has a broad range of experience, from medical research through her work in the Department of Gastroenterology, St Vincent Hospital Sydney and St George Hospital to business development and consulting through her senior positions at the Australian Trade Commission and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She is currently investigating the possible interrelationship between the physiologic, autonomic, microbiome, immune and psychological factors that contribute to relapse in inflammatory bowel disease under the supervision of Prof Michael Grimm, Prof Ute Vollmer-Conna, Mr Dusan Hadzi-Pavlovic and Prof Georgina Hold