Terry Piva, from Australia, will take up his new role as Secretary General of FAOBMB from 1 January 2025
Associate Professor Terrence Piva
Incoming Secretary General of FAOBMB
Associate Professor Terry Piva is a cellular biochemist with an interest in melanoma signalling pathways, as well as the effect of radiation on cellular function. He obtained his PhD from James Cook University (Queensland, Australia) in 1989 under the supervision of Assoc Prof Edward McEvoy-Bowe. He then did post-doctoral research in lymphocyte metabolism in Prof Eric Newsholme’s laboratory at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom). This was followed by postdoctoral appointments at the Australian National University and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. In 1999, he was appointed as a lecturer in Biomedical Science at Central Queensland University. In 2003, he moved to the School of Medical Sciences at RMIT University, in Melbourne. His current research focuses mainly on cell signalling pathways in melanoma, in particular he studies how these cells overcome BRAF inhibition. In addition, he is investigating the effect of natural products on augmenting therapeutic cell killing of cancer cells, as well as the cytotoxic effect that FLASH (ultra-high dose rate) radiation has on cancer cells.
Terry has published over 85 peer reviewed publications in international journals (H index = 30). He has given over 120 invited presentations/invited lectures and has 3 patents. He has successfully supervised 1 MSc and 20 PhD students as well as 18 Honours students completing their BSc or BBiomedSci degrees. He has received over A$4.5 million in research funding from different national granting bodies in Australia to date. He is a research academic and teaches to large numbers of undergraduate students on metabolic biochemistry, enzyme function, cell signalling as well as cancer and cell biology. He has been involved in both course and program developments. In 2006, he established the Biomedical Science program at RMIT. In 2023, he was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Award for his efforts in improving student learning outcomes in practical classes. Terry is currently the program manager for the Biomedical Science program at RMIT, having assumed this role in 2023.
Terry has served on 10 NH&MRC Grant Panels and has reviewed grant applications from many Australian and overseas funding organisations. He is on the editorial board of three international journals and has reviewed manuscripts for over 50 different journals. He is the current Treasurer for the Biomolecular Horizons 2024 Congress (Joint IUBMB/FAOBMB/ComBio Congress) that will be held in Melbourne in September 2024. Prior to this he has been involved in the organisation of 12 Australasian conferences.
He has been a member of the Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) since 1980, and of the Biochemical Society (UK) since 1988. He was the ASBMB Treasurer from 2013-2018. He was subsequently elected as the ASBMB delegate to FAOBMB Council, serving in that role from 2018-2022. In 2023, he was appointed as the IUBMB Ambassador to FAOBMB.