Professor Patrick Sexton, Professor Arthur Christopoulos and Professor Roger Summers were recently awarded a major National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) program grant of $6.5 million to fund their research work on receptor proteins

Professor Patrick Sexton

BSc(Hons) (1984), PhD (1988)
Professor of Pharmacology, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow

Career profile
Professor Sexton is a leading international researcher in the field of GPCRs. He is considered a leading world authority on Family B GPCRs and on the interaction of GPCRs with accessory proteins. His leadership responsibilities have included membership of eight international editorial boards, an IUPHAR nomenclature subcommittee and ad hoc review for 50 distinct international journals. Professor Sexton is considered one of Australia’s leading pharmacologists and has served as a member or deputy chair of seven NHMRC Grant Review Panels in the discipline of pharmacology. He has been a chief investigator on more than 50 successful funding applications, attracting over $20 million in competitive and industry funding. He has delivered over 100 invited international and national presentations and is an author of over 100 peer reviewed international journal articles.

Professor Arthur Christopoulos

BPharm (1990), PhD (1997)
Professor of Pharmacology, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow

Career profile
Professor Christopoulos has developed an international reputation in the field of GPCRs, the largest family of receptors in the human genome and the targets for the majority of drugs on the market. He is considered the leading world authority on the study of small molecule GPCR allosteric modulators as a novel approach to GPCR drug discovery. His leadership responsibilities included membership of eight international editorial boards and, over a five year period, he attracted over $12.8 million of both competitive and industry funding. His other achievements include one international and five national science awards, over 90 invited international and national presentations, and over 100 peer reviewed international journal publications.

Professor Roger Summers

BPharm(Hons) (1965), PhD (1968), FBPharmacolS (2005), PhD (2006)
Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, Honorary Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Howard Florey Institute

Career profile
Professor Summers is a recognised authority in the understanding of novel modes of signalling of recently de-orphanised GPCRs and in the development of the concept of ligand-directed signalling. His work encompasses studies of virtually all levels of GPCR structure/function. His leadership responsibilities include membership of five international editorial boards and reviewer for more than 20 international journals. Recipient of numerous national and international awards, Professor Summers has served on 16 peer review panels and has been a member and chair of NHMRC Fellowship Panels. He has delivered over 90 invited international and national presentations, is author of over 250 peer reviewed international journal articles and has been cited more than 4500 times. He has attracted over $17 million in competitive and industry funding.