Rate My Professor Joelle Coumans-Moens

Dr Joëlle Coumans-Moens is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Rural Medicine at the University of New England. She holds a PhD from the University of Sydney awarded in 1998, an MSc from University College London, and a Bachelor of Applied Science. Her postdoctoral training took place at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cellular Genetics in Bordeaux, France, and at the University of Hawaii, where she advanced her skills in molecular biology techniques. Joining the University of New England in 2004 as a postdoctoral fellow, she established proteome analysis facilities at the institution. In 2009, she joined the School of Rural Medicine as a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Facilitator. She currently teaches human biology and proteomics across the first two years of the Joint Medical Program, serves as the Higher Degree Research (HDR) Coordinator for the School of Rural Medicine, and supervises PhD, Master's, and Joint Medical Program research students in proteomics and health sciences.

Coumans-Moens maintains a strong research focus on expression proteomics, which involves studying the regulation of protein expression in response to cell activity, external stimuli, and diseases. Her research interests also include cell biology, mycology, cancer research with emphasis on profilin and cofilin in cancer aggressiveness, rurality, ageing, and innovation in teaching and learning. Key publications encompass 'Cofilin and profilin: partners in cancer aggressiveness' (2018), 'Proteomic and Microscopic Strategies towards the Analysis of the Cytoskeletal Networks in Major Neuropsychiatric Disorders' (2016), 'Profilin-1 Overexpression in MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells Is Associated with Alterations in Proteomics Biomarkers of Cell Proliferation, Survival, and Motility as Revealed by Global Proteomics Analyses' (2014), 'Cellular Responses during Morphological Transformation in Azospirillum brasilense and Its flcA Knockout Mutant' (2014), and 'Plant-extract-induced changes in the proteome of the soil-borne pathogenic fungus Thielaviopsis basicola' (2010). Her work has accumulated over 520 citations according to Google Scholar. She is a member of the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO), associate editor for the Journal of Integrated OMICS, reviewer for several proteomics journals, secretary of the International Workshop on Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Microscopy in Biological and Biomedical Research (2004, 2006, 2009, 2012), and was on the organizing committee of the Minds Matter Conference (2013). Consultancy areas include protein dynamics and proteome analysis by electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.