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Prof Cynthia Whitchurch
Research Director, Biofilm Biology cluster, SCELSE
Professor, School of Biological Sciences, NTU
Professor Cynthia Whitchurch is the research director of SCELSE’s Biofilm Biology cluster. Her research focuses on understanding alternate bacterial lifestyles – biofilms and cell wall deficiency – and on exploiting this knowledge to develop innovative approaches to control biofilms and combat infection. Her research has produced a number of important paradigm shifts in our understanding of biofilm biology and has been translated into beneficial clinical outcomes.
In SCELSE, she will be working on understanding:
• How bacteria produce and utilise extracellular DNA and other biofilm matrix components,
• How complex collective behaviours involved in biofilm development and biofilm expansion are co-ordinated,
• How bacteria colonise host tissues, and
• How bacteria transition into a cell-wall deficient lifestyle to tolerate antibiotics.
This research will further our mechanistic understanding of these biological processes and their contribution to biofilm development, host colonisation and infection, and antimicrobial resistance. Her team will employ a range of techniques including molecular biology, large scale mutant library screens, high throughput drug library screens, infection models, biofilm models, tissue and organoid culture, fluorescence microscopy, super-resolution microscopy, live-cell imaging, histology and fluorescence in situ hybridization.
She completed her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Queensland, Australia. Prior to joining SCELSE, she led research groups in Australia and the United Kingdom. The outstanding quality of her research has been recognised through prestigious fellowships and awards including Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Sciences.
