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Biography
Dr. Lovelace has over 10 years’ experience working in the interrelated fields of neuroscience, immunology and developmental neurobiology/stem cell biology, and currently works as a Senior Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the laboratory of clinical neurologist Prof. Bruce Brew (August 2015-present). His previous positions have included working with esteemed neuroscientist Prof. Max Bennett OA, at Brain and Mind Research Institute,...view more
Dr. Lovelace has over 10 years’ experience working in the interrelated fields of neuroscience, immunology and developmental neurobiology/stem cell biology, and currently works as a Senior Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the laboratory of clinical neurologist Prof. Bruce Brew (August 2015-present). His previous positions have included working with esteemed neuroscientist Prof. Max Bennett OA, at Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney, and Opthalmologist and Developmental Neurobiologist Prof. Tailoi Chan-Ling in 2009-11 (an ongoing collaboration). He has 18 total publications (8 of those first author), which in total to date have garnered 342 citations (303 last 5 years). An additional 10 publications are in revision or preparation for submission.
Positions - 2009-October 2011: Postdoctoral Fellow, Retinal and Developmental Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Anatomy and Histology, USYD, including previous Charles D. Kelman M.D. Postdoctoral Scholar (International Retinal Research Foundation, United States; 5 month position; 2012-2014: Research Officer, Vascular Lab, Centenary Institute, Sydney; 2015: Haematology Laboratory, Nepean Clinical School, USYD (2 x 3 month 0.5 FTE positions). 2015 Aug – present: St. Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research.
My Grants
Dr. Lovelace has attracted a total of $961,808 in grant funding - $39,000 in grants for salary support, $30,000 in grants for research support, $883,808 from 25 equipment grants in a variety of schemes (2 x NHMRC equipment grants, 3 x Rebecca Cooper Medical Research Foundation grants, multiple Bosch Institute small equipment grants, 4 x St. Vincent's AMR Equipment Grants, 2 x Ian Potter Foundation grants (2018 and 2020) and one 2019 Perpetual IMPACT grant (Baxter Charitable Foundation). Also $9,000 in travel grants for conference or collaborator short-stays.
Grants for Salary Support (subtotal $39,000)
1. Title: “Elucidating the role of Astrocytes in Glaucoma”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Tailoi Chan-Ling Other Investigators: Dr. Michael Lovelace
Funding Agency: International Retinal Research Foundation (IRRF). Total Budget: $39,000 Duration of Funding: 2010
Grants for Research Support (subtotal $30,000)
1. Title: “The kynurenine pathway as therapeutic target for Multiple Sclerosis”
Principal Investigators: Prof. Bruce Brew Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (12 CIs)
Funding Agency: St. Vincent’s Clinic Research Grant Total Budget: $30,000 Duration of Funding: 2017
Equipment Grants (subtotal $883,808)
25. Title: “High-speed 2D/3D microscope imaging platform with image-enhancing capability for disease modelling and testing novel therapies”
Principal Investigators: Prof. Bruce Brew and Dr. M. Lovelace (15 CIs)
Funding Agency: Ian Potter Foundation Medical Research Grant Total Budget: $100,000 Duration of Funding: 2020
24. Title: “Tri-gas mixer upgrade for Cellasic microfluidic perfusion system”
Chief Investigators: Dr. Michael Lovelace and Prof. Bruce Brew
Funding Agency: St. Vincent’s AMR Equipment Grant Total Budget: $15,000 Duration of Funding: 2020
23. Title: “Automated high-throughput and specific live cell imaging facility for drug discovery and targeted therapies”
Chief Investigators: Prof. Bruce Brew and Prof. David Ma
Project Lead, Activity contact and co-grant writer: Dr. M Lovelace
Funding Agency: Perpetual IMPACT grant.
Goals: This grant funded a scratch wound migration assay upgrade for the Incucyte Zoom and an Incustore extended storage module.
Total Budget: $50,000 Duration of Funding: 2019
22. Title: “Automated high-throughput and specific live cell imaging facility for drug discovery and targeted therapies”
Principal Investigators: Prof. Bruce Brew and Dr. M. Lovelace (12 CIs)
Funding Agency: St. Vincent’s AMR Equipment Grant Total Budget: $15,000 Duration of Funding: 2019
21. Title: “Automated high-throughput and specific live cell imaging facility for drug discovery and targeted therapies”
Principal Investigators: Prof. Bruce Brew and Dr. M. Lovelace (17 CIs)
Funding Agency: Ian Potter Foundation Medical Research Grant Total Budget: $100,000 Duration of Funding: 2019
20. Title: “Muse benchtop flow cytometer”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Bruce Brew Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace, Assoc. Prof. Kurosh Parsi, Dr. David Connor
Funding Agency: St. Vincent’s AMR Equipment Grant Total Budget: $17,500 Duration of Funding: 2018
19. Title: “Cellasic ONIX microfluidic system for live cell imaging”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Tailoi Chan-Ling Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (13 CIs)
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant Total Budget: $12,000 + $15,000 co-funding Duration of Funding: 2017
18. Title: “Repair of Gamma Counter”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Des Richardson Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (multiple CIs)
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant Total Budget: $7,000 + $2000 departmental co-funding Duration of Funding: 2017
17. Title: “QIAExpert System”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Rebecca Mason Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (multiple CIs)
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant
Total Budget: $12,000 Duration of Funding: 2017
16. Title: “Countess II automated cell counter”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Bruce Brew Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (8 CIs)
Funding Agency: St. Vincent’s AMR Equipment Grant
Total Budget: $15,000 Duration of Funding: 2017
15. Title: “State-of-the-Art Nanolive 3D Cell Explorer for the Multi-User Bosch Molecular Biology Facility”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Des Richardson Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (24 CIs)
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant Total Budget: $29,600 Duration of Funding: 2016
14. Title: “State-of-the-Art Nitric Oxide Analyser for the Multi-User Bosch Molecular Biology Facility”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Des Richardson Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (31 CIs)
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant Total Budget: $26,000 Duration of Funding: 2014
13. Title: “Application for Nuance FX Multispectral Imaging System”
Principal Investigator: Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (38 CIs)
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant Total Budget: $23,500 Duration of Funding: 2014
12. Title: “A light-sheet microscope; revolutionary technology for improved imaging of thick fluorescent samples, tissues and whole small organisms”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Chris Murphy Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (16 CIs)
Funding Agency: NHMRC Equipment Grant Scheme Total Budget: $198,038 Duration of Funding: 2014
10-11. I sequentially wrote equipment grants which facilitated the purchase of a CO2 controller and heated stage live cell imaging upgrade to an existing PALM Laser Capture Microdissection microscope, and also a micromanipulator stand enabling the use of an existing micromanipulator in physiology experiments.
Title: “Application for heated stage for PALM Laser Capture Microdissection microscope and accessories, enabling long-term live cell imaging and physiological experiments”
Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael Morris Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (10 CIs total)
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant Total Budget: $4008 (2013) and $15,900 (2014) Duration of Funding: 2013/2014
9. Title: “State-of-the-Art Hypoxia Chamber for Incubation at Physiological Oxygen Concentrations for the Multi-User Bosch Molecular Biology Facility”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Des Richardson Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (21 CIs)
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant Total Budget: $16,400 Duration of Funding: 2013
8. Title: “Bringing CLARITY to Bosch Institute Research”
Principal Investigator: Dr. Dan Johnstone Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (13 CIs)
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant Total Budget: $3,480 Duration of Funding: 2013
7. Title: “Wide field super-resolution microscopy with ground state depletion — Exploring nanoscopic life in chronic diseases”
Principal Investigator: Assoc. Prof. Filip Braet Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (14 CIs)
Funding Agency: University of Sydney Equipment Grant Scheme
Goals: This grant part funded a super-resolution microscope for localization of small proteins and protein-protein interactions inside cells with high spatial resolution.
Total Budget: $89,262 Duration of Funding: 2013
6. Title: “Leica PowerMosaic Plus Microscope Upgrade for Flexible, High-Resolution Slide Scanning”
Principal Investigator: Prof. Jennifer Gamble Other Investigators: Dr. M. Lovelace (20 CIs)
Funding Agency: NHMRC Equipment Grant Scheme
Total Budget: $40,120 Duration of Funding: 2013
5. Title: “An Investigation of purinergic nucleotides in directing the differentiation of human neural precursor cell populations: application to cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease”
Principal Investigator: Dr. M. Lovelace Other Investigators: Prof. Tailoi Chan-Ling
Funding Agency: Rebecca Cooper Medical Research Foundation
Total Budget: $22,000 Duration of Funding: 2012
4. Title: “Application for CO2 controller, facilitating long term live-cell imaging and physiological experiments”
Principal Investigator: Dr. M. Lovelace Other Investigators: D. Richardson, A. Sharland, S. Assinder.
Funding Agency: Bosch Institute Small Equipment Grant Scheme
Total Budget: $10,000 Duration of Funding: 2011
3. Title: “A live cell Imaging-based investigation of novel physiological functions of neural stem cells”
Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael Lovelace Other Investigators: Prof. Tailoi Chan-Ling
Funding Agency: Rebecca Cooper Medical Research Foundation Total Budget: $20,000 Duration of Funding: 2010
2. Title: “Pathogenic mechanisms of neuronal dysfunction and drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases”
Principal Investigators: Dr. Michael Lovelace, Dr. Claire Goldsbury, Prof. Michael Kassiou, Dr. Emily Mathey and Dr. Padraig Strappe
Funding Agency: Rebecca Cooper Medical Research Foundation
Total Budget: $20,000 Duration of Funding: 2009
1. Title: “Homogeniser for assay of Salmonellla Typhimurium Infection load”
Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael Lovelace Other Investigators: Prof. Denise Jackson
Funding Agency: Burnet Institute Equipment Grant Scheme Total Budget: $5,000 Duration of Funding: 2008
Travel Grants for Conference Attendance or Research Training (subtotal $9,000)
Research Training: April-May 2017, Montreal Canada – Recipient of the 2017 Ian Ballard Travel Award ($6,000) from Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia (MSRA) for 5 weeks training in oligodendrocyte culture technique in the laboratory of Prof. Jack Antel13.
Conference: Focus on Microscopy 2015, Gottingen, Germany. $A2,000 from University of Sydney to support my attendance and oral presentation.
Conference: Purine 2012, Fukuoka, Japan. $A1,000 to support my attendance and poster presentation.
My Qualifications
B. Sc (Hons). Deakin University 1999, PhD 2006
My Awards
Prizes and Awards
2019 – Winner of Association for Research in Vision and Opthalmology (ARVO) Scientific Image Contest
2017 – 5th Prize, Bosch Institute Annual Scientific Meeting poster prize
2016 – Top 20 Finalist, Bosch Institute Advanced Microscopy Facility Micrograph of the Year competition
2016 – Second prize in the Light Microscopy Australia (LMA) Micrograph Competition
2015 – Shortlisted finalist for Stem Cells (Peer-Reviewed Scientific Journal) Young Investigator Award
2014 – Winner of Rebecca L. Cooper Medal and Prize for best postdoctoral publication in a Bosch Institute Laboratory, University of Sydney
2013 – Finalist in the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research “Small Objects, Big Impact Image Competition. Image selected for exhibition at Questacon, National Science and Technology Centre, Canberra
2013 – Winner of the National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Science to Art Prize, image
2013 – Joint 3rd Prize, Centenary Institute Scientific Image Award. Image featured on web sites
2013 – Top 10 Finalist and highly commended award, Australia Museum New Scientist Eureka Prize for Science Photography, image featured on web sites
2012 – Top 20 Finalist (2 images) and 9th prize winner, Bosch Institute Advanced Microscopy Facility Micrograph of the Year competition. Winning image featured on Bosch Institute web site
2012 – Top 5 Finalist, Centenary Institute Scientific Image Award. Image featured on web site
2011 – Highly commended award in the Bosch Institute Advanced Microscopy Facility Molecular Probes Image Prize
2011 – Highly commended award in the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Science to Art Prize, image featured on NHMRC web site
2010 – Awarded 2nd prize in the Bosch Institute Advanced Microscopy Facility Micrograph of the Year competition. Image featured on Bosch institute web site
2010 – Awarded 2nd prize in the Mater Medical Research Institute Stem Cell Symposium poster competition.
2010 – Awarded the Charles D Kelman Postdoctoral Scholar Award (International Retinal Research Foundation, USA)
2009 – Awarded the Dintenfass Memorial Plaque for most interesting or innovative Rebecca Cooper Medical Research Foundation research grant proposal
My Research Supervision
Supervision keywords
Areas of supervision
Project: The characterisation of biological pathways and other biomarkers for the development of treatment and diagnostic strategies in MS and neurodegenerative diseases.
Discipline: Neurology
Project level: Project can be tailored to all levels
Supervisory Team: Bruce Brew AM, Dr Michael Lovelace & Dr Gayathri Sundaram
Project commencement: Variable
Summary: Currently there is a lack of effective treatments for a broad spectrup of acute and chronic neurological diseases. In many neurological diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and Alzheimer’s disease, there is no cure, and the majority of patients continue to deteriorate over time. There are some similarities between the diseases in that the overall symptoms are generally driven by the death of neurons or associated oligodendrocytes (cells which envelop adjacent neurons in layers of insulating myelin protein needed for the successful transmission of nerve impulses between neurons).
Our research group is interested in a number of research areas including how we can:
* Modulate the kynurenine pathway to promote mobilization of adult brain stem cells.
* Understand the kynurenine pathway in different phases of Multiple sclerosis to predict disease progression.
* Design potential therapies for Multiple Sclerosis including antibodies directed at specific targets in the kynurenine pathway.
* Investigate novel biomarkers in neurodegeneration (i.e. BCL11b protein) to explore underlying molecular or pathological activity.
Contact: Dr Michael Lovelace at m.lovelace@amr.org.au
***Applications for ILP/Honours for 2021 in the Brew lab have closed due to full enrolment***
Currently supervising
One non-UNSW Honours student, and one UNSW Med Honours student in 2021.
Location
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2066-3031