Australian Sabbatical

Steve Hill is currently enjoying sabbatical leave following completion of his five-year term as Head of School, Biomedical Sciences. He has been awarded a Visiting Research Professorship by the Raine Medical Research Foundation to visit the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth. Steve will visit UWA on two separate occasions: the first in November/December 2013 and the second in March/April 2014, as guest of the Centre for Medical Research (Western Australian Institute for Medical Research). He is continuing his duties as Chair of the MRC Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board during 2013/2014 and is returning to the UK in January and February to Chair the MCMB February Board and attend key MRC Strategy Board meetings.

Steve will be working with Kevin Pfleger at UWA. Steve and Kevin have been awarded a major Linkage Grant from the Australian Research Council to develop class-leading bioluminescence resonance energy transfer technologies for real-time monitoring of molecular interactions. This is a collaborative grant between UWA, the University of Nottingham, BMG Labtech Pty (Melbourne) and Promega Corporation (Madison, USA). The application of luminescence technologies to monitor protein-protein interactions in vitro and in vivo is part of recently established major collaborations between Steve, Kevin, Jeanette Woolard (also School of Life Sciences, Nottingham) and Keith Wood at Promega Corporation in Madison.

During his time in Australia, Steve will concentrate on the application of these technologies to the study of G protein-coupled receptors. Steve will also visit Melbourne during the latter half of November to take part in a symposium at the University of Melbourne and to finalize details for the new joint PhD degree in Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Discovery between the University of Nottingham and the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Steve informs us that he also has tickets for the Ashes Test at the WACA in December and intends to explore the Margaret River vineyards during both visits. During his second visit he also hopes to visit collaborators in Brisbane and Dunedin (New Zealand).