Rate My Professor John Rostas

Emeritus Professor John Rostas holds the position of Emeritus Professor in the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He earned a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a PhD from Monash University. Throughout his career at the University of Newcastle, he served as Assistant Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences from 1997 to 2001, Professor of Biomedical Sciences from 1999 to 2006, Founding Executive Director of the Hunter Medical Research Institute from 1999 to 2006, and Deputy Head of Faculty (Research) in the Faculty of Health in 2006. Rostas supervised 14 postgraduate research students and 7 postdoctoral research fellows. He developed and taught integrated, problem-based curricula for the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Biomedical Science programs and created training programs for research planning and grant preparation. He chaired the Local Organising Committee for the 17th Annual Conference of the Australian Neuroscience Society in 1997 and served as an external examiner for PhD theses and other institutions.

John Rostas is an internationally recognized authority on the role and regulation of the regulatory enzyme CaMKII (calmodulin-stimulated protein kinase II) in synaptic plasticity, brain development, and neuronal function. His research demonstrated developmental changes in the subcellular distribution of CaMKII regulated indirectly by thyroid hormone, independent of expression levels; the existence of giant mossy fibre nerve terminals in chicken hippocampus exhibiting long-term potentiation and depression requiring CaMKII for presynaptic LTD; and a new class of regulatory mechanisms for CaMKII in vivo at specific neuronal locations. He developed the maturing chicken forebrain as a model for slow brain maturation in humans using biochemical, electrophysiological, anatomical, and behavioural techniques. Rostas has produced 151 journal articles, 7 book chapters, and 30 conference papers, with works cited over 4,000 times. Key publications include 'Calcium/Calmodulin-Stimulated Protein Kinase II (CaMKII): Different Functional Outcomes from Activation, Depending on the Cellular Microenvironment' (CELLS, 2023), 'The role of Ca2+-calmodulin stimulated protein kinase II in ischaemic stroke - A potential target for neuroprotective therapies' (Neurochemistry International, 2017), 'Regulation of Multifunctional Calcium/Calmodulin Stimulated Protein Kinases by Molecular Targeting' (2020), and 'αCaMKII is differentially regulated in brain regions that exhibit differing sensitivities to ischaemia and excitotoxicity' (Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 2012). He secured 85 research grants totaling $9,729,934. Rostas served as President of the Australasian Neuroscience Society, Council Member of the International Society for Neurochemistry (1991-1995) chairing its Aid Committee, and Editor and Executive Council Member of the Australian Neuroscience Society (1984-1995). Awards include the inaugural Lawrie Austin Plenary Lecture (Australian Neuroscience Society, 2002) and the Hunter Medical Research Institute Exceptional Service Award.