Rate My Professor Anwar Sunna

Professor Anwar Sunna is a Professor in the School of Natural Sciences within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Macquarie University. He obtained his PhD in Technical Microbiology from Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) in 1995 and a Postgraduate Certificate in Management from Macquarie Graduate School of Management in 2010. In his current roles, he directs the Biomolecular Discovery Research Centre, serves as Partnerships Director for the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Facilitated Advancement of Australia's Bioactives (FAAB), and directs the Master of Biotechnology program, which prepares students for advanced training in biotechnology.

Sunna's research is driven by biotechnological and biomedical challenges, focusing on synthetic biology, nanobiotechnology, bioactive peptides, peptide-based biomaterials, enzyme immobilisation, luminescent bioimaging agents, and bioconversion of organic waste such as spent coffee grounds into sustainable products. For the last 15 years, he has led multidisciplinary, industrially-oriented projects, developing innovative techniques as lead inventor, with applications in biomass hydrolysis, waste valorisation, biosecurity, and nutritional bioactives from sources like ginger rhizome and fucoidan. His scholarly output includes 68 research articles, 17 review articles, and 6 patents. Key publications feature the edited volume Peptides and peptide-based biomaterials and their biomedical applications (Springer, 2017), Solid-binding peptides for immobilisation of thermostable enzymes to hydrolyse biomass polysaccharides (2017), A novel universal detection agent for time-gated luminescence bioimaging (2016), Solid-binding peptides: smart tools for nanobiotechnology (2015), and Tunable lifetime multiplexing using luminescent nanocrystals (2014). Sunna received the 2021 Faculty of Science and Engineering Excellence Award in Research Innovation, Partnership & Entrepreneurship for his impactful work bridging academia and industry in advancing Australia's bioactives sector through ARC-funded initiatives.