Rate My Professor Ajanthy Shan

Dr. Ajanthy Shan is a Sessional Academic in the Curtin School of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Sciences within the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University, Perth, Australia. She holds a PhD and a BSc (Hons) from the University of Western Australia. In her role, she teaches essential foundational courses in human anatomy and physiology, including HUMB1000 Human Structure and Function and HUMB1001 Integrated Systems Anatomy and Physiology. These units provide students with core knowledge in biomedical sciences, supporting the Faculty of Health Sciences' curriculum for health professions training. Her teaching is delivered from Building 308 on the Curtin Perth campus.

Dr. Shan's research specializations center on cellular biology, particularly endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein quality control, glycoprotein processing, and cell motility mechanisms. Her contributions include key publications such as 'The endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein, OS-9, behaves as a lectin in targeting the immature calcium-sensing receptor' (2017), co-authored with B.K. Ward, S. Rea, A. Magno, and others. This study, conducted in the School of Biomedical Sciences at Curtin University, utilized yeast two-hybrid screening of the CaSR C-terminal tail to identify OS-9 as a binding partner. Confocal microscopy confirmed ER co-localization, and immunoprecipitation showed OS-9's specific binding to immature wild-type CaSR and ER-trapped mutants via its mannose-6-phosphate receptor homology domain, targeting misfolded proteins to ER-associated degradation without major impacts on CaSR surface expression or signaling. Another publication, 'The glycoprotein fibulin-3 regulates morphology and motility of olfactory ensheathing cells' (2009), examined fibulin-3's influence on olfactory ensheathing glia morphology and motility, with implications for neural regeneration. Earlier work includes 'Characterisation of CpG methylation in the upstream control region of human NAT1' (2005), co-authored with N.J. Butcher and R.F. Minchin, investigating methylation patterns in arylamine N-acetyltransferase 1 gene regulation. Dr. Shan has presented research on benchmarking syllabus and assessments in interprofessional first-year human biology units. She received the Curtin Student Guild Excellence in Teaching Awards, including the Undergraduate Award and Postgraduate Coursework Lecturer/Tutor Award in 2017, recognizing her dedication to student engagement and learning outcomes.