MACKAY & MATTHEWS LAB

Protein structure, function and engineering

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Oscar’s Hut2Hut 2022

Oscars Hut2Hut is a 100-km trail run in the Victorian Alps with epic amounts of ascent and descent (5800 m of each) and a *lot* of technical sections. A good chunk of it is above the treeline with spectacular 360-degree views - on a good day... which is the attraction. I (Joel) ran it in 2019 (with perfect weather) and decided to go back for more this year, lured again by the scenery and the hope of good weather (or at least not sleet and sub-zero 100-km/h winds). As it turned out, I must have been in *someone's* good books because the weather turned it on again - perfect running conditions (~8-20 degrees across the time I was out there - 5 am till 1:30 am next day). These technical...

Taylor and Rezwan become truer and bluer

Congratulations to former Mackay lab PhD student Taylor Szyszka and current Ataide lab researcher Rezwan Siddiquee for having their Australian permanent residency just confirmed. They will be saying "that isn't a knife..." and sandpapering cricket balls before you know it!

Lab Xmas bbq and croquet afternoon

As has become our custom, we twisted Gareth's arm to book us an afternoon at the Marrickville Croquet Club for our Xmas do. It is a most excellent location - as well as the obvious croquet lawn, it features a lovely parkland setting, our own bbq, kitchen, covered seating, bbq and more...! And croquet is definitely a gam that everyone can enjoy (and they did). Many thanks to Gareth for patiently explaining the rules to many lab members and to Angela for orchestrating the event - a great time was had by all (with a little chess on the side).

Have been off X for months but had to log in to see response to AF3. I am much less smart than the authors - but am I (and Erin) the only ones to think that the helical afros that it makes out of IDRs is totally weird? Am I missing something?

Amazing story from the lab down the corridor - @RezwanSidd working with Sandro Ataide and Ruth Hall in @SydneySOLES at @Sydney_Science - now they will be thrown into the gladiators' pit I suspect with the other protagonists that prowl this landscape! 🙂 Great piece of work!

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Taylor takes to the radio

Taylor takes to the radio

As one of the organizers of the Sydney version of the International March for Science, which is being held on Earth Day (22 April), Taylor chatted to the Drive Show host Danny Chifley on 2SER last week, to tell him what it was all about - and answer curly questions...

Bogong to Hotham 2017

Bogong to Hotham 2017

It has been 15 years or so since I'd run the Bogong to Hotham ultramarathon down in the Victorian Alps. I've always maintained that it is the most scenic ultra I've ever run in Australia, so I don't know why it's taken me so long to do it again! Anyway, I did get...

Kangaroo creek outing

Kangaroo creek outing

Given the temperature today, I thought I'd head down to the Royal National Park and spend the morning wading down Kangaroo Crreek from Waterfall to Karloo Pool. Water was refreshing but almost too warm at Karloo! Then a trot back up to Heathcote and along the fire...

ARC grant success

ARC grant success

Joel - working with Dave Segal from UC Davis - was lucky enough to pick up an ARC Discovery Project grant in the 2015 round to explore the creation of designer epigenetic regulators. Should be interesting...

We had a Ball!

We had a Ball!

AMOEBA ball was last night - with its theme of Under the Sea. Huge amount of work by Caitlyn, Taylor, Vania and the rest of the committee went into making a thoroughly enjoyable evening with jellyfish costumes aplenty! Photos please...

Kaavya wins Fellowship

Kaavya wins Fellowship

Kaavya Krishna Kumar - a former student with Dave Gell and Joel - has just been awarded an Americal Diabetes Association fellowship to continue her work in the lab of Brian Kobilka at Stanford, where she is hammering away at the structures of membrane proteins...