12:00

Arrival and registration

3:30

Afternoon Tea

4:00

Welcome & opening Ceremony

4:20

Session 1 Protein Structure & Function

Chair: TBD

4:20-4:40

Prof Matthias Wolf (invited) (20 min)

4:40-4:55

Dr. Steph Stuteley (15 min)

Uncovering a novel regulatory mechanism for Fe-S cluster assembly in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

4:55-5:10

Alex Bohles (10 min)

Understanding the Dynamics of MEKK1 auto-regulation within Cellular Signalling Responses

5:10-5:20

Michelle Klein (10 min)

Menaquinone biosynthesis in Gram-positive bacteria: Probing the conservation of allostery in MenD

5:20-5:30

Adrian Smith-Beech (10 min)

A biochemical description of UspN and its function in the anaerobic metabolism of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

5:30-5:40

Emilie Hamzah (10 min)

Amyloid fibril formation of the human tumour suppressor protein p18INK4c

5:45-6:00

Assoc Prof Wayne Patrick (education) (15 mins)

Learning about biomolecular interactions by making a 3D guided tour

6:00-6:20

(Invited) Dr. Michael Currie (University of Canterbury) (20 mins)

Structural and biophysical analysis of a tripartite ATP-independent periplasmic (TRAP) transporter from Haemophilus influenzae

6:20

Plenary Prof Christine Winterbourn (45 min)

Chair: TBD

7:10

Welcome Function/ Mixer (Canapes)

Sponsored by: Lab Supply

9:00

End of Day 1

8:30-9:10

Plenary: Dr Kim Newton (40 min)

9:10

Session 2: Infectious Disease

Chair: TBD

9:10-9:20

Emma Walker (10 min)

The FitAB type II toxin-antitoxin system from Neisseria gonorrhoeae; a novel function for toxin-antitoxin systems?

9:20-9:30

Hazel Sisson (10 min)

Antibacterial synergy between a phage endolysin and an organic acid against the gram-negative kiwifruit pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae

9:30-9:45

Michael Barnett (education) (15 min)

Biorama: A novel approach utilising Unreal Engine 5 to visualise dynamic, complex, and scalable molecular data in real time.

9:45-10:00

Dr Matthias Fellner (15 min)

Development of molecular imaging and therapeutic agents for Staphylococcus aureus infections.

10:00-10:15

Dr Mitch Ganley (15 min)

NKT cell adjuvanted mRNA vaccines induce liver-resident memory T cells that protect against malaria

10:15-10:30

TBA

10:30

Morning Tea

11:00

Session 3: Redox Biochemistry & Signalling

Chair: TBD)

11:00-11:20

Prof James Murphy (invited) (WEHI) (20 mins)

Tales from the Crypt: understanding how RIPK3 kinase unleashes the zombie protein, MLKL, to kill cells by necroptosis

11:20-11:30

Nick Magon (10 min)

Cross-linking between cysteine and lysine, tryptophan or tyrosine in peptides and proteins treated with hypochlorous acid and other reactive halogens

11:30-11:45

TBA

11:45-12:00

Dr Peter Mabbitt (15 min)

An atypical Ubiquitin E3 ligase architecture in the N-degron pathway

12:00-12:15

Prof Xue-Xian Zhang (15 min)

One transcription factor, two DNA-binding site motifs: how carbon/nitrogen homeostasis is maintained in bacterial cells

12:15-12:30

Dr Heather Shearer (15 min)

Sensitising Streptococcus pneumoniae to the Immune-Derived Oxidant Hypothiocyanous Acid

12:30

Lunch  + Set up Posters

1:00-2:00

NZSBMB AGM (location TBD)

2:00-3:00

Education Special Interest Group Meeting (location TBD)

Free time

3:00

Afternoon tea

3:30-3:50

Custom Sciences ECR Talk (TBA) (20 min)

3:50-4:05

Manya Sabherwal (Cytiva) (15 min)

4:05-4:20

Linda Johnson (15 min)

Dissection of the epoxyjanthitrem pathway in Epichloë sp. LpTG-3 strain AR37 by CRISPR gene editing to deliver improved SDN-1 type endophytes for grasses

4:20-4:45

Custom Sciences Research Excellent Prize (TBA) (25 min)

4:45-5:25

Plenary: Dr Katherine Donovan (40 min)

5:30

Poster Session

Sponsor TBA

7:00

End of Day 2

9:00

Session 5: Evolution, Gene Expression, Bioinformatics

Chair: TBD

9:00-9:15

Enthusiasm award: Assoc Prof Paul Gardner (15 min)

The mutational robustness of RNA and protein

9:15-9:25

Carlos Smith Diaz (10 min)

Transcriptomics and Epigenomics Analysis of SKM-1 Leukaemia Response to Vitamin C

9:25-9:35

Natalie Kyte (10 min)

Unlocking the Secrets of Jumbo Phages: Harnessing Tn-Seq and CRISPRi to Reveal Bacterial Genes Involved in Phage Infection

9:35-9:50

Dr Elsie Dunkley (15 min)

Enzyme Evolution in the Context of Cellular Metabolism

9:50-10:05

Prof Anthony Poole (15 min)

Experimental evolution of E. coli lacking ribonucleotide reduction rewires deoxyribonucleotide metabolism, but not as we thought!

10:05-10:25

Prof Dean Fraga (20 min)

10:30

Morning Tea

11:00

Session 6: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 1

Chair: TBD

11:00-11:15

Prof Evelyn Sattlegger (15 min)

The effect of EEF1A pathogenic mutations on GCN2 activity

11:15-11:30

Prof Geoffrey Jameson (15 min)

Inhibition of innate immunity enzymes that go rogue in cancer cells to evolve therapeutic resistance

11:30-11:40

Hannah Lee-Harwood (10 min)

Assessing the evolutionary potential of novel resistance elements to the candidate antibacterial, niclosamide

11:40-11:50

Fangfang Chang (10 min)

Monoclonal Bispecific Antibodies Exhibiting Remarkable Breadth and Potency Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants and SARS-Like Coronaviruses

11:50-12:00

Meghan Mulligan (10 min)

Molecular characterisation of novel de novo variants in ELAVL2

12:00-12:15

Dr Kathryn Jones (education) (15 min)

A biochemistry “message in a bottle” - He Tuku Kōrero: voices of past students.

12:15-12:35

Prof Ikuro Abe (invited) (20 min)

NAD as a Building Block in Natural Product Biosynthesis

12:35

Lunch  

1:30

Free Time

3:00

Afternoon tea

3:30

Session 7: Protein Structure and Function 2

Chair: TBD

3:30-3:50

Dr Ashish Sethi (20 min)

3:50-4:00

George Randall (10 min)

A Multi-Enzyme Complex as a Tool for Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Antimicrobial Peptides

4:00-4:10

Keely Oldham (10 min)

Serine acetyltransferase from Neisseria gonorrhoeae; structural and biochemical basis of inhibition

4:10-4:20

Rosheny Kumaran (10 min)

Structural Insights into Senecavirus Genome Uncoating Mechanism

4:20-4:30

James Hodgkinson-Bean (10 min)

Insights into mechanisms of capsid expansion through a global structural survey of bacteriophage PhiTE

4:30 -5:10

Plenary: Dr Simon McCallum (40 min)

5:10-5:50

Plenary: Prof Dame Juliet Gerrard FRSNZ HonFRSC (Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor) (40 min)

Chair: TBD

06:30

Conference Dinner (Included in registration)

8:30 - 10:30

Band

09:30

Session 8: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2

Chair: TBD

9:30-9:50

Adele Williamson (invited) (20 min)

Structural diversity for DNA-joining enzymes: biological functions and synthetic applications

9:50-10:05

Dr Chris Horne (15 min)

Calmodulin binds CAMK family kinase, Chk2, via an unconventional mechanism to allosterically inhibit catalytic activity and regulate the cell cycle

10:05-10:20

Dr Martina Paumann-Page (15 min)

Peroxidasin: a novel modulator of melanoma cell invasion

10:20-10:30

Olivia Macrae (10 min)

Elucidating key enzymes for utilisation and modification of complex marine polysaccharides.

10:30-10:45

Dr Joanna Hicks (15 min)

Alternate pathways of sulfur acquisition and targeting cysteine synthesis in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

10:45-11:00

Dr Julie McIntosh (education) (15 min)

Learning from the experienced: modelling scientific practice for undergraduate students

11:30

Closing Ceremony and Prize Giving

12:00

Lunch