Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Ram Bhusal studied a PhD in Chemistry and really enjoys the challenging and interesting world of research.
"Studying Chemistry gives you lots of opportunities, its a very diversified field.
"When studying for my undergraduate study, I always felt chemistry was my strength. After completing my degree from Pokhara University, Nepal, I did my master in Medicinal Chemistry from Wonkwang University, South Korea. The next step, was a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Auckland which was an easy decision for me.
"I trained in two different labs at the School of Chemical Sciences, the University of Auckland. The first was in Organic Chemistry supervised by Associate Professor Jonathan Sperry, and then Protein Chemistry supervised by Dr Ivanhoe Leung.
"I studied under the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship. It gave me financial flexibility to focus on my research.
"The most useful knowledge I gained from my study has been the molecular biology techniques, protein production and purification and biophysical techniques for the characterisation of protein which I use mostly in my current job.
The most important thing that I am utilizing these days is my writing skills,
which improved a lot during thesis writing. Thanks to my two supervisors.
"I have been working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Associate Professor Martin Stone’s Laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Infection and Immunity Programme at Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Martin's laboratory focuses on the functions of chemokines and chemokine receptors in regulation of leukocyte trafficking, a central aspect of inflammatory responses. My project involves characterising a novel family of tick proteins (evasins) that target chemokines to suppress inflammation.
"Being in a new lab in a new country is a bit challenging, but interesting. The highlights have been my ability to recruit two PhD students as co-supervisors from my home country, Nepal. I also recieved a fellowship (Monash Bridging Postdoctoral Fellowship), which covers one year of salary.