Dr. Gavin Davey

My research interests are in the areas of Neuroscience and Glycobiology, with specific focus on enzymology, metabolic flux, glycosylation, computational & systems biology. My group researches the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie neurodegeneration in the brain, in particular, the role that energy metabolism and bioenergetics play in controlling neuronal function and dysfunction. A major goal is to understand how abnormal mitochondrial dynamics control cell loss in Parkinson's disease and other common brain disorders. My group also has interests in drug development and application of our technologies to the development of next-generation biotherapeutics, including bio- and glyco-engineering of recombinant proteins and therapeutic antibodies and nanoparticle synthesis for delivery of therapeutics into the brain.

  Ageing, stroke, dementia   Alzheimer's disease   Anticancer therapies   Apoptosis, molecular control   Biocomputing   Biomarkers of disease   Bioprocesses   Bioreactors   Brain   CANCER   CANCER CELL-LINE   Catecholamine   Cell reprogramming   Computational Biology   Depression   Enzymology and catalysis   GLYCOBIOLOGY   GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS   In vitro testing, trial methods   Induced pluripotent stem cells   Mathematical modelling   Metabolism and metabolic diseases   MITOCHONDRIAL COMPLEX I   Mitochondrial fission & fusion mechanisms   MITOCHONDRIAL MONOAMINE-OXIDASE   MITOCHONDRIAL-MEMBRANE POTENTIAL   MITOCHONDRION   Molecular Biology   Multiple Sclerosis   Neurochemistry and neuropharmacology   Neurodegeneration   Neuroimmunology   Neuroinformatics   Neuropharmacology   Neuroscience   Neurotoxicity   Oligosaccharide and polysaccharide biochemistry   OXYGEN FREE-RADICALS   PARKINSONS DISEASE   Stem cells   SYNAPSE   SYNAPTOSOMES

I am an enzymologist and my main research interests are in the areas of enzymology, metabolism, metabolic flux, glycosylation, computational & systems biology. My group researches the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie neurodegeneration in the brain, in particular, the role that energy metabolism and bioenergetics play in controlling neuronal function and dysfunction. I am internationally recognised as an expert in bioenergetics and metabolism and more recently in the rapidly expanding area of glycosylation research and glycobiology. A major goal is to understand how abnormal mitochondrial dynamics control cell loss in Parkinson's disease and other common brain disorders. My group also has interests in how mitochondria control immune cell metabolism and we have made some recent exciting high-impact discoveries in this area. I also have made substantial impact in drug development and application of our technologies to the development of next-generation biotherapeutics, including bio- and glyco-engineering of recombinant proteins and therapeutic antibodies. I have established myself among my peers as a researcher with a wide and deep understanding of mitochondria and metabolism by: 1. Discovering how mitochondrial dysfunction in neurons and the ageing brain controls neurodegeneration. I was the first to show that the mitochondrial complex I enzyme system is a major control point for controlling energy thresholds in brain nerve terminals. Through a series of high impact discoveries I am now recognised as an international leader in brain mitochondria research. 2. Showing that the use of flux control analysis and mathematical models of cellular metabolic networks reveal key metabolic control point in neurons, blood brain barrier epithelial cells and recently in immune cells. My advances in computational modelling of N- and O-linked glycosylation networks in cancer cells, immune cells and neurons has led to significant impact in the field of glycobiology and new collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. 3. Discovering how regulating glycosyltransferase enzyme activities can control the glycosylation status of recombinant biotherapeutics in CHO cell production systems. These discoveries have shown the field how to control glycan antennarity on proteins and also led to identification of optimal glycosylation routes for synthesis of human milk oligosaccharides. 4. Recently discovering how electron transport chain activities regulate energy production in immune cells and how this can control pro and anti-inflammatory effects. My expertise in mitochondrial biology has also been used to identify how the immunomodulatory protein SARM1 regulates mitochondrial function and subsequently macrophage cell activation.