Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR)


http://www.waimr.uwa.edu.au

Associate Professor Kevin Pfleger

Kevin Pfleger

Phone: +61 8 9346 1980
Email: kevin.pfleger@waimr.uwa.edu.au

Associate Professor Kevin Pfleger is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow, Head of Molecular Endocrinology - GPCRs at the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) and Chief Scientific Officer of Dimerix Bioscience, a spin-out company from WAIMR and The University of Western Australia. A/Prof Pfleger was awarded his MA and PhD from Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities respectively. He relocated to Western Australia in October 2002 and was a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Peter Doherty Research Fellow from 2005 to 2008. A/Prof Pfleger was named Western Australian Young Scientist of the Year 2009, his work featured as one of the NHMRC 10 of the Best Research Projects 2010 and he was awarded the 2011 Australian Museum 3M Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science.

Qualifications

1998BA (Hons) - Natural Sciences (Pharmacology), Cambridge University (Emmanuel College), UK
2002MA - Natural Sciences (Pharmacology), Cambridge University (Emmanuel College), UK
2003PhD - Molecular Endocrinology, MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit & University of Edinburgh, UK
Thesis Title: "Structural determinants of GnRH ligand-receptor interactions"

Research Interests

  • G-protein coupled receptor pharmacology.
  • Interactions between G-protein coupled receptors and arrestins.
  • G-protein coupled receptor heteromerization.
  • Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET).

Research Funding

  • ARC Future Fellowship
  • ARC Discovery Project Grant investigating the functional interaction between vasopressin and angiotensin receptors
  • NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellowship
  • NHMRC Project Grant investigating novel strategies to treat drug abuse
  • NHMRC Project Grant to study G-protein coupled receptor mediated-arrestin complexes
  • NHMRC Development Grant to develop resonance energy transfer technologies to detect GPCR heterodimers
  • NHMRC Equipment Grant for a robotic liquid handling workstation
  • NHMRC Equipment Grant for enhanced microscopic imaging
  • ARC Discovery Project Grant to develop a novel technology to assess cellular function
  • Raine Medical Research Foundation Priming Grant
  • Research Contract with Dimerix Bioscience Pty Ltd to study G-protein coupled receptor heterodimers
  • UWA Research Grant investigating novel GPCR interactions with implications for treating alcoholism
  • UWA Research Grant investigating novel protein interactions with the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor

Scientific Involvement

  • UK Society for Endocrinology - Member 2000 onwards.
  • US Endocrine Society - Member 2002 onwards.
  • Endocrine Society of Australia - Member 2004 onwards.
  • Australasian Neuroendocrine Group (International Neuroendocrine Federation) - Member 2006 onwards.
  • ARC/NHMRC Research Network on Fluorescence Applications in Biotechnology and Life Sciences (FABLS) - Member 2007 onwards.
  • Australian Society for Medical Research - Member 2008 onwards.
  • Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening - Member 2008 onwards (previously as Society for Biomolecular Sciences).
  • AusBiotech - Member 2010 onwards.
  • American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - Member 2011 onwards.
  • Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists - Member 2011 onwards.

Awards and Honours

2011Australian Museum 3M Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science
2010NHMRC 10 of the Best Research Projects
2010Dimerix Bioscience: Finalist for Western Australian Innovator of the Year
2009WAIMR Marshall Medal
2009Winner of the Western Australian Young Scientist of the Year Award
2009Barbara Ell Seminar Speaker at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
2008Finalist for Western Australian Young Scientist of the Year at the Premier's Science Awards
2008Pfizer Global Research and Development Scholarship to present at the GPCR Keystone Symposium
2007Award for Best Poster Presentation at the British Pharmacological Society Meeting on Cell Signalling
2006Société de Neuroendocrinologie Servier Prize
2006International Congress of Neuroendocrinology Young Investigator Travel Award
2006Endocrine Society of Australia's International Travel Award
2005Inaugural Molecular Pharmacology of G Protein-Coupled Receptors Postdoctoral Poster Prize

Top 10 Recent Publications

  1. Dalrymple MB, Jaeger WC, Eidne KA, Pfleger KDG*. 2011. Temporal profiling of orexin receptor-arrestin-ubiquitin complexes reveals differences between receptor subtypes. Journal of Biological Chemistry 286:16726-16733. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 5.328]
  2. See HB, Seeber RM, Kocan M, Eidne KA, Pfleger KDG*. 2011. Application of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Heteromer Identification Technology to monitor {beta}-arrestin recruitment to G protein-coupled receptor heteromers. Assay and Drug Development Technologies 9:21-30. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 2.700]
  3. Ayoub MA, Pfleger KDG*. 2010. Recent advances in bioluminescence resonance energy transfer technologies to study GPCR heteromerization. Current Opinion in Pharmacology 10:44-52. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 6.817]
  4. Kocan M, See HB, Sampaio NG, Eidne KA, Feldman BJ, Pfleger KDG*. 2009. Agonist-independent interactions between b-arrestins and mutant vasopressin type II receptors associated with nephrogenic syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis. Molecular Endocrinology 23:559-571. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 4.889]
  5. Ferré S, Baler R, Bouvier M, Caron MG, Devi LA, Durroux T, Fuxe K, George SR, Javitch JA, Lohse MJ, Mackie K, Milligan G, Pfleger KDG, Pin JP, Volkow N, Waldhoer M, Woods AS, Franco R. 2009. Building a new conceptual framework for receptor heteromers. Nature Chemical Biology 5:131-134. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 15.808]
  6. Pfleger KDG*, Pawson AJ, Millar RP. 2008. Changes to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor extracellular loops differentially affect GnRH analog binding and activation: evidence for distinct ligand-stabilized receptor conformations. Endocrinology 149:3118-3129. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 4.993]
  7. Kocan M, See HB, Seeber RM, Eidne KA, Pfleger KDG*. 2008. Demonstration of improvements to the bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) technology for the monitoring of G protein-coupled receptors in live cells. Journal of Biomolecular Screening 13:888-898. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 2.500]
  8. Pfleger KDG*, Eidne KA. 2006. Illuminating insights into protein-protein interactions using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET). Nature Methods 3:165-174. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 20.717]
  9. Pfleger KDG*, Seeber RM, Eidne KA. 2006. Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) for the real-time detection of protein-protein interactions. Nature Protocols 1:336-344. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 8.362]
  10. Pfleger KDG*, Dromey JR, Dalrymple MB, Lim EML, Thomas WG, Eidne KA. 2006. Extended bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (eBRET) for monitoring prolonged protein-protein interactions in live cells. Cellular Signalling 18:1664-1670. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2010): 4.243]

* Listed as Corresponding Author