Mark Gregory

Combining … knowledge and resources led to greater discoveries and better understanding of … results

Photo of Mark Gregory

I moved to Australia in 2010, following the completion of my Undergraduate and Masters studies at the University of Leeds in the UK. I commenced a PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Melbourne under the primary supervision of Prof Andrew B Holmes. My studies combined total synthesis with chemical biology, proteomics and cancer research. It was a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the fundamental roles of phosphatidylinositol phosphates (PIPs) and inositol phosphates (IPs) in cell signaling.

During my time as a PhD candidate I really started to understand the advantages of collaboration. I worked closely with my co-supervisors at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Dr Bruno Catimel and Prof. Tony Burgess but also developed new collaborations at the University of Oxford and Princeton University. Combining our knowledge and resources led to greater discoveries and better understanding of our results.

Since the completion of my doctoral degree I have been working as an editorial assistant at the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal Organic Letters, managing the peer review process for submitted manuscripts. In addition, I run a not-for-profit education platform called Laneway Learning that I co-founded back in 2012. The aim of Laneway Learning is to provide affordable short classes in a wide variety of subjects from science, to craft, to social issues. The classes are taught by local knowledgeable and passionate individuals of the community. The organisation has grown a lot in the last few years with many new teachers and collaborators coming on board. My role is to work with these people in the community to help them develop their classes and I know that the focus on collaboration during my PhD has translated well into this role.