Rate My Professor Ben Corry

Professor Ben Corry is a Professor in the Division of Biomedical Science and Biochemistry, Research School of Biology at the Australian National University. He earned a PhD in theoretical physics from ANU in 2003, a BSc with first class honours in theoretical physics in 1998, and a BA in philosophy in 1997, all from ANU. After his PhD, he served as Postdoctoral Fellow and Casual Lecturer at ANU from 2002-2003, then at the University of Western Australia as ARC Postdoctoral Fellow (2003-2006), ARC Research Fellow and Associate Professor (2007-2011). Returning to ANU in 2012 as Senior Lecturer, he advanced to Associate Professor in 2015 and Professor in 2021. Corry leads the Corry Group in computational biophysics, investigating membrane protein structure and function, including ion channels, transporters, and receptors. His studies elucidate ion selectivity, gating, and transport mechanisms using molecular dynamics, quantum calculations, FRET microscopy, and transport assays. Applications encompass biomimetic nanopores for desalination, water purification, and insights into sodium channels and malaria parasite transporters.

Corry has produced influential publications such as "Bio-inspired pores for selective ion transport" (National Science Review, 2025), "Drugs exhibit diverse binding modes and access routes in the Nav1.5 cardiac sodium channel pore" (Journal of General Physiology, 2025), "A binding site for phosphoinositides described by multiscale simulations" (eLife, 2024), and "Water and ion transport through functionalised carbon nanotubes: implications for desalination technology" (Energy & Environmental Science, 2011). With an h-index of 40 and over 9,500 citations on Google Scholar, his work has shaped computational biophysics. Awards include the 2024 ANU Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence for innovative cell physiology teaching via games; ARC Future Fellowship (2014-2017); Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2011); Young Scientist of the Year, WA Premier’s Awards (2008); and Young Biophysicist Award (2005). He has obtained substantial ARC and NHMRC grants, supervised 11 PhD students, served on the ANU Council (2018-2020) and Academic Board (2020-2022), and sits on editorial boards of PeerJ and Computational Chemistry Highlights.