School of Pharmacy

Garth Maker

Garth first came to Murdoch as an undergraduate student in 1999. He completed a Bachelor of Science with majors in Biological Science and Marine Science in 2001, and was Valedictorian of his graduating class. Garth undertook an Honours project in the Animal Physiology laboratory, looking at applications of molecular technology (e.g. PCR) in the taxonomic assessment of chitons, a group of molluscs of great interest to the emerging field of nanotechnology.

In 2003, Garth began his PhD project in the Biochemistry lab, focusing on human developmental biochemistry. The final stages of lung development depend on production of fibroblast-pneumocyte factor, a protein that triggers the production of pulmonary surfactant. Pre-term infants born before production of FPF suffer from neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) and can suffer long-term complications. In spite of the critical role of FPF, it has never been identified. To this end, Garth worked with A/Prof Robert Trengove to apply liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in attempting to identify FPF. These studies revealed that FPF is likely to be neuregulin-1b, a common signalling protein. It is hoped that this discovery will eventually lead to a new treatment for NRDS.