Dr Angelo Keramidas

Senior Research Fellow

Institute for Molecular Bioscience
a.keramidas@uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 66362

Overview

I am interested in ion channels in health and disease. Improved technologies for genetic screening is revealing an expanding catalogue of genetic variants to ion channels that give rise neurological disorders, such as epilespy syndromes, autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders. My main research focus is on neurotransmitter-activated receptor ion channels that are found at neuronal synapses. These include GABA-A, glycine and glutamate (NMDA) receptors. I also work on other ion channesl such as voltage-gated sodium channels and synaptic receptors expressed in invertebrate nervous systems.

I am an expert at recording single ion channel, synaptic and conventional whole-cell currents for functional and pharmacological analyisis.

I collaborate with biophysicists, molecular biologists, geneticists, electrophysiologists and clinicians that specialise in genetic neurological disorders. I have active projects in collaboration with research groups in Australia, USA and Europe.

Research Impacts

I am collaborating with basic and clinical research groups that bring together a great diversity of research techniques with the common aim of developing personalised medicine for affected individuals with neurological disorders.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy
  • Bachelor of Science

Publications

View all Publications

Available Projects

  • New gene variants identified by our clinical collaborators to receptors that mediate neuronal inhibition. These variants lead to receptor functional deficits that manifest as neurological syndromes in young affected individuals.

    We aim to characterise the functional deficists in these receptors and explore personalised treatment options that are tailored to each receptor variant.

  • Genetic variants to glutamate receptors have been discovered by our clinical geneticists. We aim the understand how these variants lead to developmental delay and co-morbid disorders in affected individuals and explore pharmacotherapies that correct the functional deficits in these important receptors.

  • This project will use natural and modified peptides that are derived from venoms of different species, such as spiders and ants to probe and manipulate the functional properties of voltage-gated ion channels, which are critically important to the function of the nervous system.

    You will learn patch-clamp electrophysiology (whole-cell and single channels) and how to isolate, synthesise and determine the structure of venom peptides and their mechanisms of action at ion channels.

View all Available Projects

Publications

Journal Article

Conference Publication

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Completed Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • New gene variants identified by our clinical collaborators to receptors that mediate neuronal inhibition. These variants lead to receptor functional deficits that manifest as neurological syndromes in young affected individuals.

    We aim to characterise the functional deficists in these receptors and explore personalised treatment options that are tailored to each receptor variant.

  • Genetic variants to glutamate receptors have been discovered by our clinical geneticists. We aim the understand how these variants lead to developmental delay and co-morbid disorders in affected individuals and explore pharmacotherapies that correct the functional deficits in these important receptors.

  • This project will use natural and modified peptides that are derived from venoms of different species, such as spiders and ants to probe and manipulate the functional properties of voltage-gated ion channels, which are critically important to the function of the nervous system.

    You will learn patch-clamp electrophysiology (whole-cell and single channels) and how to isolate, synthesise and determine the structure of venom peptides and their mechanisms of action at ion channels.