Collaborative and Contract Research

IMBcom is dedicated to developing and managing a portfolio of collaborations with industry, government, and other research organisations. IMBcom brings appropriate partners together for generating outcomes of value to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry including lead therapeutics and new technologies.

 

Opportunities exist for collaborative and contract research in a number of research areas across the Institute.

  

Genomics and Computational Biology

IMB has the largest concentration of computational biology and bioinformatics expertise in Australia, supported by excellent high performance computing (HPC) facilities. The bioinformatics facilities underpin research at the IMB and are crucial for every stage of the high-throughput drug discovery pipeline, from data storage and management through sequence analysis and genomic comparisons to the development of computational models with which biologists can test hypotheses and generate predictions.

 

The infrastructure and research expertise available at the IMB provides a world class environment for contract or collaborative research.

 

Molecular Genetics and Development

IMB researchers have the ability to perform high-throughput whole mount in situ hybridisation analysis in mouse and chicken embryos. This high-tech facility includes an InSituPro robotic whole mount in situ hybridization workstation and digital cameras for microscopes for high-throughput analysis.

 

IMB researchers have the capacity to validate targets identified in a number of animal models including transgenic and knockout mice, zebrafish, chick and yeast. IMB has established a high-quality zebrafish facility with 800 tanks of fish, and capacity to expand to a 2,000 tank system. The facility includes zebrafish microinjection, imaging, transplantation, and expression profiling capabilities with  the capacity to perform small- to medium-scale drug screens and validation of targets..

 

Molecular Cell Biology

IMB facilities include state–of-the-art fluorescence and electron microscopy and a confocal imaging facility, with several types of microscopes dedicated to imaging in living cells, which provide the infrastructure for cutting-edge analysis at cellular and molecular levels.  High- resolution, near-atomic molecular structure elucidation is achieved with cryo-electron microscopy and, together with the introduction of tomographic techniques allows IMB researchers to link cellular and molecular levels in studies of pathways and disease processes.

 

Chemical and Structural Genomics

 The discovery, synthesis and application of bioactive natural peptides and proteins are a key focus. This research explores the chemistry, biology and therapeutic potential of novel peptides and proteins from such diverse sources as Australian animal venoms and milk. Special emphasis is placed on determining structure-function relationships.

 

Medicinal chemistry is a component of our interdisciplinary approach to drug discovery. The medicinal chemistry team modifies the chemical structures of active compounds in order to enhance their drug-like properties such as potency, specificity, pharmacokinetic profile, and safety.

 

The growing area of proteomics is supported by an extensive mass spectrometry (MS) infrastructure, which includes LCT-MS, MALDI-MS, electro- and nano-spray MS, TOF-TOF, QTrap and API-triple quadrupole MS technologies.