Dr Brett Williams

Find Brett Williams on

Senior Lecturer - Plant Science, Faculty of Science

Doctor of Philosophy (Queensland University of Technology)

Brett Williams is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biology and Environmental Science.  Brett joined QUT in 2010 and has been researching the molecular dissection of programmed cell death pathways in plants using next generation transcriptomics of a novel Australian resurrection grass. Prior to working at the CAB Brett received his BS and Ph. D., both at QUT, in the laboratory of Distinguished Professor James Dale, where he focused on the development of a novel virus-inducible protein expression system in plants. Following his PhD studies, Brett travelled to Texas A & M University in the US where he worked in the lab of Professor Martin Dickman, studying plant Programmed Cell Death (PCD) pathways in response to biotic and abiotic stimuli. Brett’s research has led to several key discoveries including the observation that members of the Arabidopsis Bcl-2 athanogene (BAG) family are dispersed in a variety of sub-cellular organelles. He also showed temporal induction of plant PCD pathways as a key pathogenicity factor of the potent necrotrophic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Brett is the associate supervisor of seven PhD students. Over the years Brett has attracted significant research funding, he is/was also the co-PI on several projects funded from the National Science Foundation (NSF) (USA), QUT Bluebox and the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF).

Projects (Chief investigator)

Projects

Additional information

  • 2022 - current - Senior Lecturer of Plant Science
  • 2018 - 2021 - Senior Advance QLD Research Fellowship
  • 2015 - 2017 - Vice Chancellor's Research Fellow, QUT
  • 2010 - 2015 - Research Fellow, Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities
  • 2007 - 2009 - Post-doctoral Research Associate, Texas A & M University
Type
Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
Reference year
2022
Details
Associate Editor - Frontiers in Cell Death Model Systems
Type
Appointment to Prestigious Positions
Reference year
2020
Details
Genetics and Molecular Biology Representative
Type
Visiting Professorships/Fellowships
Reference year
2018
Details
Chinese Academy of Sciences President's International Fellowship
Type
Fellowships
Reference year
2017
Details
Advance QLD Senior Research Fellowship
Type
Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
Reference year
2016
Details
Chair of the Combio2016 Early Career Development Forum
Type
Funding Award
Reference year
2016
Details
American Society of Plant Biologists Travel Award
Type
Funding Award
Reference year
2016
Details
Australian Academy of Science "Science at the Shine Dome" Travel Award
Type
Fellowships
Reference year
2015
Details
QUT Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellowship
Type
Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
Reference year
2014
Details
Co-chair of the B3 Big Biology and Bioinformatics symposium
Type
Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
Reference year
2014
Details
Editorial Board for Molecular Plant Pathology 2014 - current
Title
Development of drought tolerant rice and mustard using a two-pronged approach and novel genes identified from resurrection
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
AISRF08240
Start year
2014
Keywords
Drought Tolerance; Resurrection; Rice
  • Investigation of Bcl-2 3' UTR mediated plant stress tolerance
    PhD, Principal Supervisor
    Other supervisors: Dr Sudipta Das Bhowmik