Professor Briony Forbes

Professor

College of Medicine and Public Health

place Flinders Medical Centre Building (6D:218)
GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia

Prof Forbes received her PhD from The University of Adelaide in Biochemistry and held positions at The University of Adelaide, Discipline of Biochemistry, where she was head of the Laboratory of Protein Signalling, and at CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition. Her expertise lies in protein chemistry and structure/function. Using a range of techniques from protein expression, purification, biophysical analyses and in vitro cell biology assays her Flinders University laboratory seeks to understand how insulin and insulin-like growth factors bind to their cell surface receptors and how this leads to their important biological actions such as control of metabolism and a growth.

Qualifications
1992 PhD Biochemistry Department, The University of Adelaide
1984 BSc (Hons) Ophthalmology and Immunology, Flinders University
1983 BSc Biochemistry and Microbiology&Immunology, The University of Adelaide
Honours, awards and grants
  • 2108 Flinders University College of Medicine and Public Health VPED Teaching Excellence Award “Critical thinkers in Medical Science”
  • 2012 Research Career Development Network TravelAward, to attend the the 6th GRS&IGF International Symposium, Munich, Germany
  • 2011 Overseas Conference Scheme, The University ofAdelaide, to attend the 4th IGF Gordon conference, USA
  • 2009 RCDNAchievement award, The University of Adelaide, for academic excellence andservice
  • 2009 Overseas Conference Scheme, The University ofAdelaide, to attend the 3rd IGF Gordon conference, USA
  • 2007 ResearchCareer Development Network Travel Award, to attend the 2nd IGFGordon conference, USA
  • 2007 OverseasConference Scheme, The University of Adelaide, to attend the 2nd IGF Gordonconference, USA
  • 2007 Adelaide Research InnovationIndustry Awards Finalist
Key responsibilities

Deputy Director (Research Education Development) FHMRI

Head of the Proteins in Metabolism and Cancer laboratory

Supervision of PhD, Honours students and Research staff

Undergraduate teaching in Medical Biochemistry

ASBMB National Secretary

Adelaide Protein Group committee member

Institutional Biosafety Committee Member

HDR Committee Chair

Teaching interests

My teaching interests are in Biochemistry, Cell Biology and Protein Chemistry. I am particularly interested in inspiring students in the field of growth factor and hormone signalling and how this fundamentally underpins normal growth and development, and how a understanding in this field also impacts on an understanding of molecular basis of disease. I also aim to provide opportunities to expose students to the excitement of medical research.

Topic coordinator
MMED9150A MED1 Human Homeostasis
MMED3933 Biochemistry of Human Disease
Topic lecturer
MMED3933 Biochemistry of Human Disease
MMED9150A MED1 Human Homeostasis
MMED7004 CMPH Honours
MDSC3000 Med Skills 3
Supervisory interests
Diabetes
Insulin growth factors in normal dev and disease
Higher degree by research supervision
Current
Principal supervisor: IGF and insulin signalling in cancer (2)
Completion
Principal supervisor: Insulin receptor Isoform A signaling (1)
Associate supervisor: Oxygen-sensitive enzymes and their role in normal development and physiology (1), Structural studies of IGFBP-2 (4), Anit-IGF-1R antibodies (1), Structure/function of IGFs (1), Alpha lytic proteases (4)
Interests
  • Growth Factors and insulin