The University of Queensland
Research Field: Microbial Metabolic Engineering
Dr Claudia Vickers is a synthetic biologist with a focus on metabolic engineering in microbes. She is particularly interested in using biology to replace current industrial practices with sustainable, environmentally friendly approaches. To this end, she uses the tools of synthetic biology to re-engineer microbial metabolism to enable them to change simple sugars into biochemicals that can be used to replace petrochemicals.
Her research could see wide commercial application in pharmaceuticals, anti-malarials and anti cancer drugs, pesticides and biofuels.
Claudia has worked with the Royal Institute of Australia to develop teacher training modules and educational materials for students. She has also been a part of collaborative public science events and has been invited to advise the Federal Government, the American Institute on Science for Global Policy and the Wall Street Journal on the topic of synthetic biology.