Melissa Sweeney

I am currently a postdoctoral researcher as part of EUbOpen in Professor Alex Bullock’s lab in the Centre for Medicines Discovery. I started this position in 2021 after completing my PhD at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. My PhD research sparked my interest in both teaching, and ubiquitin systems and the E3 ligases that mediate them. I now study the components or large complexes that form functional E3 ligase units. I find it fascinating that multiple proteins can join together to form these active units, and that we are able to study these at a molecular level to see how they look and work.

•  I teach biophysics and metabolism tutorials the biochemistry and medicine undergraduates.
•  I demonstrate undergraduate biochemistry practical courses.
• I am a lead tutor for a training course in biosciences for the Doctoral Training Centre.

I study the structure and function of BTB/Kelch domain E3 ligases to understand their functions in disease and develop small molecules that target them for therapeutic purposes. I specialise in protein expression and purification, X-ray crystallography, analytical ultracentrifugation, and other biochemical and biophysical techniques.

‘Exportin-1-Dependent Nuclear Export Of Dead-Box Helicase DDX3X Is Central To Its Role In Antiviral Immunity’ Steven Heaton, Sarah Atkinson, Melissa Sweeney, Sundy Yang, David Jans, Natalie Borg Cells (2019); 8, 1181; doi:10.3390/cells8101181

'Discovery of Conformationally Constrained ALK2 Inhibitors', Héctor González-Álvarez, Deeba Ensan, Tao Xin, Jong Fu Wong, Carlos A. Zepeda-Velázquez, Julien Cros, Melissa N. Sweeney, Laurent Hoffer, Taira Kiyota, Brian J. Wilson, Ahmed Aman, Owen Roberts, Methvin B. Isaac, Alex N. Bullock, David Smil, and Rima Al-awar, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2024); 67(6), 4707-4725