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Dawson Ling

PhD Candidate
Dawson Ling
Background

Dawson's key research interest focuses on malaria drug discovery. Dawson is currently working on his PhD project which investigates compounds that may specifically block blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum invasion, a unique parasite process that remains elusive. By studying these compounds, he aims to discover new parasite targets which may serve as novel drug targets.

Dawson completed his Honours project "Characterisation of egress and invasion inhibitors in blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum” at the Burnet Institute in 2020. During this project, he employed phenotypical screening and live-cell microscopy to study the compounds' specificity in blocking the different stages of the blood-stage parasite as well as egress and invasion.

Qualifications
  • 2019–2020: BBiomed (Hons), The University of Melbourne
  • 2017–2019: BSc, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Awards
  • 2020: Royal Melbourne Hospital Department Honours Program Award
  • 2020: Richard Larkins Prize
  • 2020: Burnet Student Symposium Best Honours Talk
Positions
  • 2021–Present: Clinical Trial Assistant, Melbourne Children’s Trial Centre, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
  • 2020–2021: Research Assistant, Malaria Virulence and Drug Discovery Group, Burnet Institute
  • 2019–2021: Analytical Chemist, Composition Team, BVAQ