Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR)


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

Dr Ross Graham

Ross Graham

Dr Ross Graham completed a degree majoring in Biochemistry and Physiology at the University of Western Australia with Honours in Physiology in 1989. He worked for 3 years as a Research Assistant in Cardiology at Royal Perth Hospital before completing a PhD in Physiology at UWA in 1998. He moved to London in 1998, working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of London, firstly at University College then at Queen Mary.

Ross returned to Perth in 2004 to join the laboratory of Professor John Olynyk and Associate Professor Debbie Trinder with a prestigious Raine Medical Research Foundation priming grant to study the role of transferrin receptor 2 and the effects of its naturally-occurring mutations in liver iron homeostasis. This work has now expanded to include investigation of the molecular biology and function of other genes involved in iron metabolism, including metal ion transporters, and how they are regulated in the common genetic disorder, hereditary haemochromatosis.

Qualifications

1988BSc - Physiology and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
1989Honours (first class) - Physiology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Thesis Title: "A comparison of iron metabolism in hepatocytes and hepatoma cells in culture"
1998PhD - Physiology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Thesis Title: "Characterisation of citrate and iron citrate uptake by hepatocytes"

Research Interests

  • Iron metabolism in models of hereditary haemochromatosis.
  • The role of transferrin receptor 2 in transferrin-bound and non-transferrin-bound iron uptake.
  • Transport of iron and other metal ions across the cell membrane.
  • Regulation of genes involved in iron homeostasis.

Research Funding

  • Raine Medical Research Foundation (2004-2005)
  • UWA Research Grants Scheme (2005)
  • Fremantle Medical Research Foundation (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)

Scientific Involvement

  • Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) (1990 - present)
  • Biochemical Society (UK) (1999 - present)
  • Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA) (2005 - present)
  • International BioIron Society (IBIS) (2005 - present)

Top Publications

  1. Chua AC, Herbison CE, Drake SF, Graham RM, Olynyk JK, Trinder D. 2008. The role of Hfe in transferrin-bound iron uptake by hepatocytes. Hepatology 47(5):1737-44. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  2. Graham RM, Chua AC, Trinder D. 2008. Plasma iron and iron delivery to the tissues. In Anderson GJ, McLaren GD (eds), Iron Physiology and Pathophysiology in Humans, 1st edition, Humana Press, USA (accepted 18 Jan, 2008).
  3. Graham RM, Reutens GM, Herbison CE, Delima RD, Chua AC, Olynyk JK, Trinder D. 2008. Transferrin receptor 2 mediates uptake of transferrin-bound and non-transferrin-bound iron. Journal of Hepatology 48(2):327-34. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  4. Graham RM, Chua AC, Herbison CE, Olynyk JK, Trinder D. 2007. Liver iron transport. World Journal of Gastroenterology 13(35):4725-36. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  5. Chua AC, Graham RM, Trinder D, Olynyk JK. 2007. The regulation of cellular iron metabolism. Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences 44(5-6):413-59. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  6. Drake SF, Morgan EH, Herbison CE, Delima R, Graham RM, Chua AC, Leedman PJ, Fleming RE, Bacon BR, Olynyk JK, Trinder D. 2007. Iron absorption and hepatic iron uptake are increased in a transferrin receptor 2 (Y245X) mutant mouse model of hemochromatosis type 3. American Journal of Physiology. Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology 292(1):G323-8. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  7. Vévodová J, Graham RM, Raux E, Warren MJ, Wilson KS. 2005. Crystallization and preliminary structure analysis of CobE, an essential protein of cobalamin (vitamin B12) biosynthesis. Acta Crystallographica. Section F, Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications. 61(Pt 4):442-4. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  8. Frankenberg N, Schobert M, Moser J, Raux E, Graham RM, Warren MJ, Jahn D. 2004. The biosynthesis of hemes, siroheme, vitamin B12 and linear tetrapyrroles in Pseudomonads. In Ramos J-L (ed), Pseudomonas, 1st edition, vol. 3, Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers, Boston.
  9. Vévodová J, Graham RM, Raux E, Schubert HL, Roper DI, Brindley AA, Ian Scott A, Roessner CA, Stamford NP, Elizabeth Stroupe M, Getzoff ED, Warren MJ, Wilson KS. 2004. Structure/function studies on a S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent uroporphyrinogen III C methyltransferase (SUMT), a key regulatory enzyme of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis. Journal of Molecular Biology 344(2):419-33. [NCBI PubMed Entry]