Lynch laboratory: Basic and clinical myology
-
Head of Laboratory
Professor Gordon Lynch+61 3 8344 0065
Research Overview
View Professor Lynch's latest PubMed publications listing here
We are interested in the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle development and regeneration, muscle adaptation and plasticity, as well as the muscle wasting and weakness associated with ageing (sarcopenia), cancer, disuse and muscle diseases and conditions, including the muscular dystrophies and critical illness myopathy.
We are currently investigating skeletal muscle development and regeneration following injury and repair from single muscle stem cells, through to functional muscle fibres and whole muscles. We have a specific focus on stem cell self-renewal and how cellular metabolism may regulate the commitment of muscle stem cells to the myogenic lineage. We hope that a better understanding of these mechanisms will translate to improvements in autologous stem cell transplant therapies applicable to many muscle diseases and conditions.
Our studies on muscle adaptation and plasticity, wasting and weakness encompass investigations of the molecular pathways regulating muscle size and function with a translational approach from cell culture experiments complemented by different animal models as unique platforms for studying muscle wasting, adaptation and plasticity.
Our ultimate goal is to translate our fundamental biological discoveries to human patients through our extensive international collaborative network of geriatricians, critical care physicians, surgeons, neurologists, rheumatologists, anaesthetists, oncologists, endocrinologists, orthodontists, as well as biomedical and tissue engineers.
Staff
Dr Kate Murphy, Senior Research Fellow
Dr James Ryall, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Kristy Swiderski, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Justin Hardee, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Marissa Caldow, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Audrey Chan, Research Fellow
Jennifer Trieu, Senior Research Assistant
Annabel Chee, Research Assistant
Alaina Lee, Senior Research Assistant
Students
Francesca Alves, PhD student
John Nguyen, PhD student
Dylan Chung, PhD student
Amy Bongetti, PhD student
Chloe Li, Masters student
Funding
2019-2021 ARC Discovery Project. Mechanisms of age - related changes in amino acid signaling in skeletal muscle
2018-2021 NHMRC Project Grant. Rescuing the Dystrophin-Glycoprotein Complex to protect muscles from wasting conditions
2018-2020 Duchenne Parent Project. Evaluating a sulforaphane-based nutraceutical to alleviate gastrointestinal dysfunction in DMD
2017-2020 NHMRC Project Grant. Therapeutic potential of skeletal muscle plasticity and slow muscle programming for muscular dystrophy
2017-2020 NHMRC Project Grant. A simple method to improve stem cell transplant therapy
Research Opportunities
This research project is available to PhD students, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.