Rate My Professor Terry Mulhern

Associate Professor Terry Mulhern is the Director of Teaching and Learning for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He obtained his PhD from the University of Queensland and has held teaching and research positions at the Universities of Oxford, Adelaide, and Melbourne. In recent years, Mulhern has embraced a full-time teaching specialist role, which he considers the most fulfilling and satisfying phase of his academic career spanning over two decades. He coordinates core subjects in the Bachelor of Biomedicine and delivers biochemistry instruction across the Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Biomedicine, and Doctor of Medicine programs within the School of Biomedical Sciences. His commitment to innovative pedagogy earned him the 2018 David White Award for Teaching Excellence, the University of Melbourne's highest accolade for teaching in Health and Science faculties, recognizing his contributions to education innovation and research, as well as the 2019 Shimadzu Education Award from the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for his creative educational approaches.

Mulhern's academic interests center on protein structure and function, employing biophysical techniques such as small-angle X-ray scattering and expressing excitement for the future of structural biology with single-particle cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography being established at the Bio21 Institute. His research output, reflected in a Google Scholar profile with affiliations verified at unimelb.edu.au, includes seminal publications like "ATM, a central controller of cellular responses to DNA damage" (Cell Death & Differentiation, 2001), "Endogenous and synthetic inhibitors of the Src-family protein tyrosine kinases" (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Proteins and Proteomics, 2005), "C-terminal Src kinase (CSK) and CSK-homologous kinase (CHK)—endogenous negative regulators of Src-family protein kinases" (Growth Factors, 2005), "Loss of nucleosomal DNA condensation coincides with appearance of a novel nuclear protein in dinoflagellates" (Current Biology, 2012), and "Crystal structure of Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumolysin provides key insights into early steps of pore formation" (Scientific Reports, 2015). Mulhern also engages in science communication and public scholarship, authoring "A giant lobster, by any other name" for Pursuit by the University of Melbourne, which elucidates nomenclature history and conservation challenges for Tasmania's giant freshwater crayfish, Astacopsis gouldi, culminating in a peer-reviewed paper in the Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. Through research, teaching excellence, and outreach, he significantly influences biomedical education and structural biology.