Bioinnovation and drug discovery at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron
Ashish Sethi A * , Rachel M. Williamson A , Emily G. Finch A , Daniel Häusermann A , Helen E. A. Brand A and Danielle E. Martin A *A
Dr Ashish Sethi is the scattering group manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. His research expertise includes the use of integrated structural biology methods to characterise biomolecular structure and function. |
Dr Rachel Williamson is the crystallography group manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. She specialises in chemical crystallography and structural biology, with research interests in organic electronics and biosensors. |
Dr Emily Finch is the microscopy group manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. Her research interests lie in geoscience, particularly metal mobility in Earth’s crust to support green technologies. |
Dr Daniel Häusermann is the imaging group manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. His research interests lie in supporting cancer detection and diagnosis, understanding biological functioning and assessing engineering structures. |
Dr Helen Brand is currently the acting science operations manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. Her research focuses on the thermoelastic properties and crystal chemistry of minerals relevant to environmental, planetary geology and industrial applications. |
Dr Danielle Martin is currently the acting senior principal scientist (head of science), who oversees strategic developments, managing, prioritising and facilitating team and stakeholder interactions, capital and asset management programs and leading key science initiatives across ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. |
Abstract
ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron (AS) is a premier national research facility providing Australia, New Zealand and the broader region with access to world-class instrumentation and advanced analytical techniques. Synchrotrons worldwide have established themselves as invaluable tools for drug discovery and biological innovation, and the AS is no different. The Australian Synchrotron’s capabilities provide significant data regarding the molecular and structural dynamics of complex biological systems. These enable insights from mapping drug-target interactions at the atomic level to visualising physiological responses within tissues and organisms. The following article outlines these capabilities and their application to drug discovery in more detail.
Keywords: bioinnovation, biomedical imaging, CFS, crystallographic fragment screening, microbeam radiation therapy, microspectroscopy, MRT, small-angle X-ray scattering, synchrotron, synchrotron-based drug discovery, structural biology.
Dr Ashish Sethi is the scattering group manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. His research expertise includes the use of integrated structural biology methods to characterise biomolecular structure and function. |
Dr Rachel Williamson is the crystallography group manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. She specialises in chemical crystallography and structural biology, with research interests in organic electronics and biosensors. |
Dr Emily Finch is the microscopy group manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. Her research interests lie in geoscience, particularly metal mobility in Earth’s crust to support green technologies. |
Dr Daniel Häusermann is the imaging group manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. His research interests lie in supporting cancer detection and diagnosis, understanding biological functioning and assessing engineering structures. |
Dr Helen Brand is currently the acting science operations manager at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. Her research focuses on the thermoelastic properties and crystal chemistry of minerals relevant to environmental, planetary geology and industrial applications. |
Dr Danielle Martin is currently the acting senior principal scientist (head of science), who oversees strategic developments, managing, prioritising and facilitating team and stakeholder interactions, capital and asset management programs and leading key science initiatives across ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron. |
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