The John Curtin School of Medical Research - JCSMR

27/05/2026

Last Friday JCSMR was pleased to host Professor Johanna Montgomery from the University of Auckland. Prof Montgomery presented 'Plasticity across the central and peripheral nervous systems and its implications for disease mechanisms'.

14/05/2026

On Friday we were fortunate to have a Director's Seminar presentation from Dr Carl Walkley, Department of Molecular and Translational Science, Monash University, Australia. Dr Walkley was hosted by JCSMR Group Leader, Dr Paul Marshall and gave a talk on: 'Understanding editing dependent and editing independent functions of ADAR1 mediated regulation of “self” vs “non-self” discrimination of cellular RNA.'

29/04/2026

JCSMR would like to thank Dr Emily Furlong, Group Leader in the Research School of Biology for giving a talk at our Director's seminar last week. Emily is interested in understanding how bacteria make their virulence factors and respond to oxidative stress, thank you again Dr Furlong for sharing your knowledge! 🦠🧬🧪🌡️💊

17/04/2026

Sharing this great event for our friends at Pint of science!

Pint of Science Australia’s festival is coming to Canberra over three nights in May. From astrophysics to zoology – we’ve got your curiosity covered! Get $15 tickets here: https://pintofscience.com.au/events/canberra/

07/04/2026

Congratulations to JCSMR Group Leader - Dr Mark Polizzotto who has won an NHMRC award for his global study testing whether a daily tablet could replace chemotherapy for a cancer that kills up to half its patients in Africa.
Read more here:

Professor Mark Polizzotto has won an NHMRC award for his global cancer trial testing whether a daily tablet could replace chemotherapy.

02/04/2026

JCSMR hosted Harmony Day on Monday 30 March.

Each year on 21 March, the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD), commemorating the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa. In 1999, Australia renamed IDERD to Harmony Day (now Harmony Week, 16–22 March 2026). While Harmony Week celebrates diversity, the Australian Human Rights Commission notes that a focus only on harmony can mask systemic racism and sideline the lived experiences of First Nations peoples and migrants. Our event holds both: joyful celebration and honest reflection.

25/03/2026

On Friday 13 March, JCSMR was delighted to host (as part of our Director's Seminar program) Prof Andreas Ludwig - Director Institute of Molecular Pharmacology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany Visiting scientist, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute who spoke to our school on the topic of 'Shedding of surface proteins in response to mechanic cell stimulation'.

05/03/2026

Opportunities available below...

11/02/2026

Today we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and the remarkable contributions of women across STEM 🧬🦠🩺💉🌡️🧪

04/12/2025

Scientists using supercomputers to turn raw DNA data into results!