Rate My Professor Emily Don

Dr. Emily Don is a Senior Lecturer in Vertebrate Physiology in the School of Natural Sciences within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Macquarie University. Her academic journey began with a PhD from the Department of Anatomy and Histology at the University of Sydney, focusing on the genetic basis of limb development and loss using zebrafish models. She started teaching at the University of Sydney in 2010. In 2013, she joined Macquarie University's Motor Neuron Disease Research Centre, applying her zebrafish expertise to neuroscience research on motor neuron diseases. Appointed as a Lecturer in Professional Practice in 2018, she has since advanced to Senior Lecturer, emphasizing innovative, student-centered teaching. She currently convenes Systems Physiology and Advanced Human Physiology, guest lectures in Human Genetics and Evolutionary Medicine and Macquarie MD, and serves as Director of the Bachelor of Medical Sciences. Her teaching portfolio includes physiology, clinical professionalism, anatomy, histology, motor neuron disease, and genetics. An Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, she has completed the Foundations in Learning and Teaching program.

Dr. Don's research specializes in developing molecular toolkits for zebrafish models of neurodegenerative diseases, creating transgenic lines for real-time in vivo studies of the nervous system. Her goals include genetically encoded reporters to investigate nervous system development, aging, and pathology. Notable publications encompass "Critical impact of lysine 136 in TDP-43 phase separation, compartmentalization, and aggregation in living vertebrates" (2025), "C9orf72-associated dipeptide repeat expansions perturb ER-golgi vesicular trafficking, inducing golgi fragmentation and ER stress, in ALS/FTD" (2024), "RNA-binding properties orchestrate TDP-43 homeostasis through condensate formation in vivo" (2024), "Treatment with sodium butyrate induces autophagy resulting in therapeutic benefits for spinocerebellar ataxia type 3" (2024), "CCNF mutations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia" (2016), and "A Tol2 Gateway-Compatible Toolbox for the Study of Prion-Related Neurodegeneration and Neuroprotection" (2016). Awards include the Biomedical Sciences Early Career Research Award (2018), Best Oral Presentation (2016), and multiple best presentation and poster awards (2015-2019). She contributes to committees like the School of Natural Sciences Education Committee, B.ClinSci Professional Practice working group, and the Executive Group of the Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research.