Australian National University
Research Field: Organic Chemistry & Chemical Biology
Organic chemist Dr Lara Malins’ research aims to unlock peptides and proteins for their therapeutic potential.
Peptides and proteins are the key functional molecules of life, integral to cellular structure, function and immunity as the antibodies that protect us from disease. Due to their diverse biology, these bio-molecules are promising therapeutic leads and knowledge of their intricate cellular roles can improve our understanding of disease.
Dr Lara Malins’ laboratory aims to develop new tools to construct peptides and proteins from their amino acid building blocks. By altering the composition of amino acids in a sequence, Lara’s research group aims to improve on nature’s templates. They are inspired by naturally-occurring antibiotic and antimalarial peptides and seek to invent efficient ways to design analogues with even greater therapeutic potential.
Dr Lara Malins received her PhD from the University of Sydney in 2014 and is currently an ARC DECRA Fellow and Lecturer at the Australian National University.