James Murphy

James Murphy's work is focused on understanding how proteins within cells interact, and how genetic mutations that perturb these interactions can cause disease.

James is particularly interested in interactions between proteins involved in cell signaling. The network of signaling proteins within cells can be likened to an electronic circuit. The research is identifying the missing components in these ‘circuits’ and explaining how diseases are caused by defects in the circuit components.

By understanding how defective signaling causes disease, they aim to develop drugs to control the actions of defective components. In particular, they are seeking to understand how signaling defects can lead to a range of diseases, including ischemia-reperfusion injuries, such as stroke and kidney injury, muscular dystrophy, and cancers.

James is also assisting his colleagues at the Menzies Institute with the development of a vaccine for Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease.