Slakeski Nada

Dr. Nada Slakeski

CONTACT

Dr. Nada Slakeski
Dr. Nada Slakeski

E-mail: nslak@unimelb.edu.au

Telephone: +61 3 9341 1564 (Tues., Wed. and Fri.)

QUALIFICATIONS

  • BSc (Hons) LaTrobe University
  • PhD LaTrobe University
  • Senior Research Fellow
  • Oral Health CRC: Project leader molecular biology

SHORT HISTORY

  • 2009-Present: Senior Research Fellow
  • 2007-2009: Maternity Leave
  • 2003-2007: Senior Research Fellow
  • 2003-present: Senior Research Fellow
  • 2002-2003: Maternity Leave
  • 1995-2002: Research Fellow
  • 1993-1995: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Institute for Plant Biology, The University of Zurich, Switzerland.
  • 1988-1992: PhD, Department of Biochemistry, LaTrobe University
  • 1987: BSc (Hons), Department of Biochemistry, La Trobe University

Nada Slakeski began her career as a molecular biologist in the field of “Plant Biotechnology”. After an initital postdoctoral position investigating disease resistance genes in wheat and rice, at The University of Zurich, Switzerland, she returned to Australia to accept a position at The Melbourne Dental School and has remained to this day. During her employment at the Melbourne Dental School she has been promoted to Senior Research Fellow. Nada’s research has focussed on the investigation of virulence factors associated with the oral pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis, a major causative agent of periodontitis. Her work in this area has resulted in several patents, numerous publications and government support from both national and international grant agencies. Nada has also been awarded the Colgate Award for Dental Research (Dunedin, N.Z. 1997), second place in the international Hatton Award (Nice, France, 1998) and the IADR-ANZ Oral Biology Award (Japan, 2001), awarded for excellence in research in the field of Oral Biology. Nada has supervised nine BSc(Hons) students and three PhD students.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Recombinant vaccine development for the treatment of periodontitis
  • Gene-expression and protein secretion in P. gingivalis
  • Investigation of the arginine-specific and lysine-specific proteinases of P. gingivalis
  • Expression of recombinant P. gingivalis proteins in established E. coli and P. gingivalis expression systems
  • Microarray analysis of gene expression profiles of P. gingivalis, T. denticola and F. nucleatum grown under various conditions
  • Investigation of expression profiles of oral bacteria grown as biofilms compared to planktonic culture

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

  • Cysteine proteinases of P. gingivalis (secretion, post-translational modification, recombinant gene expression)*
  • Microarray analysis of gene expression profiles of P. gingivalis, T. denticola and F. nucleatum1
  • Recombinant vaccine design and development of P. gingivalis, T. denticola and T. forsythia antigens

* A variety of projects available for for BSc(Hons), MSc and PhD students

1 Projects available for Masters by research and PhD students only

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS

  • See Dr. Slakeski's Find an Expert page at The University of Melbourne.

PATENTS

  • Diagnostics and treatments of periodontal disease (Granted)
  • Porphyromonas gingivalis antigens for the diagnosis and treatment of periodontitis (Granted)
  • Synthetic peptide constructs for the diagnosis and treatment of periodontitis (Granted/Pending)
  • Porphyromonas gingivalis antigenic composition (Pending)

GRANTS

The National Institutes of Health (USA):

  • Impact of oral bacterial interaction on periodontitis
  • Development of a defined Porphyromonas gingivalis vaccine

The National Health and Medical Research Council:

  • Characterisation of a putative fimbrillin of P. gingivalis
  • Protease-haemagglutinin complex of P. gingivalis
  • Cell surface proteins of P. gingivalis
  • Iron/haem transport systems of P. gingivalis
  • The RgpA-Kgp proteinase-adhesin complex and virulence of P. gingivalis
  • Molecular characterisation of the gingipains of P. gingivalis

Victorian State Government:

  • Victorian Centre for Oral Health Science

Australian Federal Government:

  • Cooperative Research Centre for Oral Health Science

Australian Dental Research Foundation:

  • Ten grants awarded in last nine years

MEMBERSHIPS

  • International Association for Dental Research Member