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Alex Duff began at QUT in 2016 as an undergraduate, where he completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science majoring in Biochemistry. He continued his scientific career with the Cancer and Ageing Research Program with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science Honours in Cancer Biology, graduating with First Class Honours in 2019. After his first taste of research, Alex returned to his biochemistry roots, undertaking his PhD in Protein Biochemistry with the Molecular Simulation Group, which is currently under external review as of the end of 2024.His PhD project focused on engineering a new generation of peptide and protein-derived inhibitors of the neural protease Kallikrein 8 in order to investigate its role in Alzheimer’s Disease, and resulted in the development of several promising inhibitors as much as 1000 times more potent than those previously documented.
After submitting his thesis, Alex decided to pivot to the relative stability of a support role within the Faculty of Health technical services team, applying his board knowledge base across a variety of biomedical disciplines to his role as Scientific/Technical Services Officer in the FoH teaching labs. Here, he worked as part of the Biochemistry and Pharmacy team, assisting in the day-to-day operations of undergraduate practicals and pharmacy external engagement.
Alex now serves as the Scientific Officer for QUT’s facilities at QIMRB where he maintains the laboratory spaces, equipment and procedures to ensure smooth operations and interplay between the QUT researchers, QIMRB core facilities and regulatory bodies.