Professor Brett Neilan

Professor Brett Neilan is the Global Innovation Chair for Biotechnology and Dean for Research (College of Science, Engineering and Environment) at the University of Newcastle. A molecular biologist and microbial chemist, he holds five patents and has raised over $62 million in research funding. Brett currently holds four Australian Research Council grants and is the node leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology. He has served on the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts and an editor of four journals. His awards include three Eureka Prizes and in 2009 he was named one of the NSW Scientists of the Year. Brett leads research programs that look at microbial diversity and the biosynthesis of toxins and other bioactive molecules. He has mentored more than 50 PhD students and 20 postdoctoral staff researchers; a team that has published more than 350 articles. Some of the microbial ecosystems that his group has studied include rivers, wastewater treatment plants, desert crusts, stromatolites, insect guts and traditional medicinal plants.