SBMS team
Farhad Dehkhoda
Farhad joined the RTClab in April as a post-doc to work on our Ghrelin-Dopamine receptor interaction project. Farhad did his PhD with Andrew Brooks, at the Diamantina Institute, working on cytokine receptor signalling. Since finishing his PhD, Farhad has been working on a commercial project around new immunotheriapies led by Sandra Nicholson at WEHI. In his spare time he enjoys a game or two of football and tries to keep himself updated about national and international affairs.
Noah Piper
Noah has a B Pharm Science (hons.) from Monash University and a keen interest in neuropharmacology. He is excited to be working on melanocortin 4 receptor signalling and dynamics within our lab. Outside of the lab, Noah spends more time than he cares to admit amassing and cataloguing a music collection and staunchly believes that life is far too short to spend it drinking bad coffee.
JingJing Xing
JingJing is a Ph.D. student at the school of biomedical science. She is excited to investigate cholesterol modulation of GPCR signaling. Outside of the lab, JingJing enjoys debating, cycling, Skiing, Boxing, and Dancing.
Desye Misganaw
Desye has a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy and then he studied Pharmacology at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Desye is interested in learning more about Molecular neuropharmacology and GPCRs. Inspired by how the interaction of GPCRs modifies the typical pharmacological of individual GPCRs, he is thrilled to be a part of our project on the role of the ghrelin receptor in modifying the activity of other GPCRs.
Keith Mutundewe
Keith has a B Pharm Science (hons.) from Monash University where he worked in the Integrated Neurogenic Mechanisms lab. Keith is very interested in translating basic discoveries in biology to therapies for human conditions and beyond keeping the lab running, contributes to experiments across several of our projects. Outside of the lab, Keith indulges his myriad music tastes and all manner of visual media.
Collaborative team
Peter McDonald
Peter has a B Science (hons.) in chemistry from the University of Melbourne and is working to develop novel solvatochromatic fluorophores for applications in measuring protein dynamics. His project is a collaboration between the Ritchie Lab (Chemistry, Monash University) and the the RTC lab. From relaxing on a beach, to seeking out a waterfall amongst the mountain ashes, you will likely find Peter exploring the great outdoors when not in the lab
Mitchell Ringuet
Mitchell has a Biomedical science (Msc.) in Neuroscience from the University of Melbourne and is working on our project on the interaction between Ghrelin and Dopamine D2 receptors using ex-vivo electrophysiology & RNA scope. His project is a collaboration between the lab of Digestive Physiology & Nutrition lab at the Florey Institute for Neurosciences and the the RTC lab. Mitchell like to hit the links while avoiding getting centuries.
Pragya Gupta
Pragya has a Master of Science in molecular genetics from the Banaras Hindu University & a PhD in biological sciences from the Indian Institute of Technology. Pragya is working on our project on the the role of the Calcitonin receptor in programmed cell death and Glioblastoma. Her project is a collaboration between the lab of Dr. Peter Wookey (Austin Health) and the the RTC lab.