Rate My Professor Brett Neilan

Professor Brett Neilan is a Laureate Professor and Head of the School of Environmental and Life Sciences in the School of Science at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New South Wales between 1992 and 1995, and his Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Technology Sydney. Neilan's academic career includes serving as an ARC Federation Fellow (2008-2013) and ARC Professorial Fellow (2005-2008) in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences at UNSW, ARC Research Fellow (2001-2005) and ARC Postdoctoral Fellow (1998-2000) in the School of Microbiology and Immunology at UNSW, Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin (1996-1997), and NASA Planetary Biology Fellow at Stanford University (1995-1996). He founded and directed the Microbial and Molecular Diversity Laboratory from 1997 to 2015 and has held numerous leadership roles, including School Research Director at UNSW (2007-2015), Deputy Director of the Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics (2005-2008), Deputy Director and Founding Member of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology (2006-2015), and member of various management committees and national advisory panels such as the Academy of Sciences National Committee on Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (2013-2015).

Neilan is renowned for his expertise in molecular microbiology, genetic and genomic engineering, and microbial chemistry. His research encompasses the biochemistry of environmental microorganisms, genetics of complex biosynthesis pathways, bioactive compound discovery from cyanobacteria and microbial toxins, evolution and ecology of microbes, stromatolites, and synthetic biology applications. Key achievements include the first molecular identification of genes responsible for cyanobacterial toxins such as microcystin, cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin, and nodularin, pioneering investigations of microbial life in stromatolites using molecular and phylogenetic techniques, and advancements in genome mining and heterologous production of natural products. He leads the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology (2020-2026), supported by $35 million funding, to engineer biological systems for sustainable biomanufacturing of biofuels, bioplastics, biodegradable pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. Neilan has authored books including "Cyanobacterial biotechnology in the 21st century" (2023), "Stress Biology of Cyanobacteria: Molecular Mechanisms to Cellular Responses" (2013), and "Cyanotoxins" (2001), contributed to 53 book chapters, and published over 400 journal articles with more than 33,000 citations. His work has attracted approximately $25 million in competitive grants, resulted in four patents, and earned international acclaim through 12 invited reviews in leading microbiology journals, over 30 invited seminars including at Gordon Conferences and the Royal Society for Chemistry, five visiting appointments to international institutes, service on editorial boards of five journals, and organization of eight international conferences. He has consulted for governments on biotechnology, biosecurity, water quality, and environmental issues, managed seven CRC projects, and contributes to policy and public discourse on biodiversity exploitation and environmental safety.