Meet the team: Professor Brett Neilan
Introducing Professor Brett Neilan, academic overseer & mentor for the DeNovocastrians iGEM team.
Professor Brett Neilan is a molecular biologist and microbial chemist. One of his specialised fields is cyanobacterial genetics. When asked why he chose this particular field, he replied; “I got into the field of cyanobacteria because they cause harmful algal blooms and that’s what effects water quality. 25 years ago I was offered a PhD scholarship to study cyanobacterial genetics for Sydney water, and the evolution of cyanobacteria in that process, and why they’re toxic.”
Professor Neilan completed his PhD at The University of New South Wales, going into the field of Astrobiology, studying the origins and evolution of life itself. His first post-doctorate, funded by NASA, was in the Department of Geology at Stanford University in California, where he studied ancient micro-fossils of cyanobacterial stromatolites. His second post-doctorate, more biotechnology focused, looked at how cyanobacterial toxins are made and what genes are involved.
“Cyanobacteria are the first known living organisms on earth… they produce the oxygen that we need to breathe!” — Prof Brett Neilan
When asked why he got involved with the iGEM project, Professor Neilan said, “It is a really good way of giving the students an experience that’s more like real life. When you look at a biotech company for example, it just doesn’t have biologists, geneticists and bioinformaticians. It’s also got marketing people, management people, people who know the business, all that background stuff that you don’t think is part of a biotech company. iGEM emulates the real world without the pressures of stock markets and things like that. It’s a really good mix of different skill sets within the one project, plus the project we’ve chosen is really important for this city. Newcastle is one of the most industrial cities in Australia and the soil in this region has contamination from hydrocarbons, so we can actually apply the work here to help solve that problem.”
Professor Neilan’s role in the iGEM team is as an overall management role, coordinating with the other academics and PhD mentors involved in the project. He also oversees the biology/biotechnology side of things and imparts his experience as a research scientist to the team.
“Not everything works first time you try it so don’t be too disappointed, that’s real life.” — Prof Brett Neilan
When sharing his interests and hobbies, Brett said, “When I was younger I used to surf and play sports like cricket and football. Now my major exercise is mowing the lawn! I enjoy spending time with my family. I have two little girls and a son, so they take up a lot of my time. Family is my hobby!”
