Rate My Professor Ian Peak

Dr. Ian Peak is a Senior Lecturer in Biology at Griffith University's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, located on the Gold Coast Campus within Griffith Health's School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences. He earned his DPhil from the University of Oxford. Peak joined the School of Medical Science at Griffith University in 2002 and transferred to the Institute for Glycomics in 2003, where he has established himself as a key researcher and educator. As Program Director for the Bachelor of Health Science, he has led reviews and reorganizations emphasizing enhanced student learning outcomes and alignment with industry needs. Peak teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, specializing in infectious diseases, microbiology, immunology, and academic skills development.

Peak's research centers on microbial pathogenesis, host innate immune responses to bacteria and their secreted products, quorum signaling, and bacterial surface structures. His work examines phase variation in pathogenic Neisseria species, lipooligosaccharide and capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis in Moraxella species relevant to otitis media vaccine development, and virulence mechanisms in Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis. He has contributed to studies on sepsis treatments, with experimental drugs advancing to clinical trials. Key publications include 'Opc- and pilus-dependent interactions of meningococci with human endothelial cells: molecular mechanisms and modulation by surface polysaccharides' (1995), 'Molecular analysis of a locus for the biosynthesis and phase-variable expression of the lacto-N-neotetraose terminal lipopolysaccharide structure in Neisseria meningitidis' (1995), 'A Type IV Pilin, PilA, Contributes to Adherence of Burkholderia pseudomallei and Virulence In Vivo' (2005), 'A Genomic Survey of Positive Selection in Burkholderia pseudomallei Provides Insights into the Evolution of Accidental Virulence' (2010), and recent articles such as 'Isolation and characterisation of a heparosan capsular polysaccharide and a core oligosaccharide from Moraxella lincolnii strain CCUG 52988' (2024) and 'Characterisation of a capsular polysaccharide from Moraxella nonliquefaciens CCUG 348T' (2024). His scholarship has garnered significant citations, influencing vaccine and therapeutic strategies against bacterial infections.