Invited Speakers
Invited national and international speakers will lead the symposia sessions throughout the Conference, including:
Proteins, Peptides and Structural Biology
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Australian National University
University of Melbourne
University of New South Wales
University of Osaka
University of Sydney
Plant Biology
Botanic Gardens of Sydney
Australian National University
University of Western Australia
Arahus University
University of Technology Sydney
Adelaide University
University of Sydney
University of Queensland
University of Queensland
ARC Centre of Excellence University of Adelaide
Adelaide University
Cell Developmental Biology
Adelaide University
Harvard University
University of Queensland
University of Queensland
Australia
Adelaide University
Biochemistry and Metabolism
University of Sydney
Garvan Institute of Medical Research
University of Sydney
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Flinders University
Education
University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
University of Auckland
La Trobe University
Flinders University
University of Sydney
TBC
University of New South Wales
RNA
Adelaide University
Westlake University
Children's Medical Research Institute
'Omics and System Biology
University of Melbourne
Sylvie Callegari
Dr. Sylvie Callegari is a recently appointed lab head at WEHI, studying the role of ubiquitin in mitochondrial quality control. Dr Callegari completed her PhD at the University of South Australia before moving to Göttingen, Germany for a postdoctoral position in mitochondrial biochemistry in the lab of Prof. Peter Rehling. In 2019, she joined Prof. David Komander's lab (WEHI) as a Senior Research Officer, where she led the team that uncovered the activation mechanism of the Parkinson’s disease-linked protein PINK1, for which the team were awarded the 2025 Eureka Prize for Scientific Discovery.
Emily Furlongi
Dr Emily Furlong is an emerging leader in structural bacteriology whose research focuses on understanding the structure and function of novel antibacterial targets. She trained at the University of Queensland and University of Oxford, graduating with her PhD in 2019. She subsequently undertook postdoctoral research at Oxford and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney. In 2023, she established her research group at the Australian National University’s Research School of Biology, with the support of an ANU Futures Award.
Rhys Grinter
Biography to follow.
Joshua Hamey
Dr Joshua Hamey is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales, working with Professor Marc Wilkins. Dr Hamey's research focusses on how the eukaryotic cell's protein synthesis machinery - the ribosome and associated factors - are controlled by protein post-translational modifications, in particular methylation and phosphorylation. He has discovered and characterised several new protein methyltransferase enzymes that specifically target the translational machinery.
Kensuke Ikenaka
Kensuke Ikenaka, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at The University of Osaka and an Associate Professor at the Center for Autophagy and Anti-Aging Research, Nara Medical University, Japan. He is a clinician–scientist specializing in neurodegenerative disorders, with a focus on Parkinson’s disease and related synucleinopathies. His research centers on reverse translational approaches, linking clinical observations to molecular mechanisms, particularly in α-synuclein aggregation, fibril polymorphisms, and lysosomal dysfunction. His work integrates biochemical and biophysical methods to advance the understanding of disease pathogenesis and to inform diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Ann Kwan
Ann Kwan is an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney and an internationally recognised protein biochemist specialising in protein dynamics and challenging biomolecular interactions. Her research integrates solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (NMR), structural biology, and computation to dissect molecular mechanisms of function, with a particular focus on RNA‑binding proteins and other traditionally “undruggable” targets. Her group develops toolkits combining nucleic acid mimics, macrocyclic peptides, and AI‑enabled NMR analysis to identify modulators of dynamic protein states. Ann’s work addresses antimicrobial resistance and viral infection while bridging fundamental biophysics with translational discovery.
Jason Bragg
Jason Bragg is a researcher in the Research Centre for Ecosystem Resilience at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney. He does research on plants using genetics and genomics to inform conservation and restoration.
Kai Xun Chan
Dr Kai Xun Chan is currently Deputy Director (Research) of the ARC Future Crops Training Centre and Senior Lecturer at the Research School of Biology, Australian National University. His research dissects how cellular signals coordinate photosynthetic biochemistry and physiological adaptation of plants to challenging environments. Chan and collaborators have revealed an oxidative stress sensor in chloroplasts, the role of chloroplast signalling in stomatal closure and land plant evolution, and the specialisation of chloroplast signalling in different leaf cells for acclimation to light and heat stress. His work was recently recognised with the Australian Academy of Science Fenner Medal.
Ryan Coates
Dr. Ryan Coates is a Research Associate at the University of Western Australia with nine years of experience in plant synthetic biology, having completed his Masters and PhD at Cardiff University, Wales. His research focuses on maximising protein expression in plants through genetic construct design, protein subcellular targeting, and machine learning-driven synthetic nutritional protein development. Funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space, Dr. Coates is passionate about scientific developments for sustainable space exploration. His talk showcases how machine learning and genetic engineering can be combined to develop the future of food on Earth and in Space.
Manuel Frank
Manuel Frank is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Aarhus University, where his research program focuses on root nodule symbiosis in legumes. He earned his Doctorate in Biology from Freie Universität Berlin and MSc/BSc degrees in Biosciences from the University of Münster, specialising in hormone‑regulated plant development and stress responses. His work combines single‑cell and spatial transcriptomics, genetics and hormone biology to define how transcriptionally primed root hair cells acquire competence for symbiosis with nitrogen‑fixing rhizobia. He contributes to the Enabling Nutrient Symbiosis in Agriculture (ENSA) consortium, linking priming concepts to the engineering of biological nitrogen fixation in crops.
TBC
Biography to follow.
Acknowledgement of Country
ComBio 2026 will be held at the ICC Sydney that stands and operates on Tumbalong, the land of the Gadigal clan of the Eura Nation. The ComBio 2026 Conference acknowledges the traditional custodians of the Gadigal country and demonstrates respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
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