Rate My Professor Luke Guddat

Professor Luke Guddat is a Professor and Director of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Students in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Science, at the University of Queensland. He earned his BSc from Monash University and PhD from the University of Melbourne in 1990. Following postdoctoral research at the University of Utah and Harrington Cancer Center in the USA from 1991 to 1994, he joined UQ as a staff member in 1995 and was promoted to Professor in 2010. He also coordinates courses including BIOL1007 Molecular & Cellular Biology, BIOC3000 Advanced Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and BIOC6007 Directed Studies in Biomolecular Structure & Function.

Guddat's research specializes in structural biology and rational drug design, using X-ray crystallography and biophysical techniques to study enzyme mechanisms and develop inhibitors. Targets encompass enzymes in nucleotide biosynthesis, branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis like acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS), metalloenzymes such as purple acid phosphatases, and serine proteases in blood clotting and snake venoms. Applications include herbicides against weeds, antifungals for Aspergillus fumigatus, antimalarials targeting Plasmodium falciparum HGPRT, and antituberculosis agents against Mycobacterium tuberculosis KARI. Key publications comprise "Herbicide-binding sites revealed in the structure of plant acetohydroxyacid synthase" (2006), "Crystal structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ketol-acid reductoisomerase at 1.0 Å resolution" (2016), "Structural basis of resistance to herbicides that target acetohydroxyacid synthase" (2022), "A mechanism for SARS-CoV-2 RNA capping and its inhibition by nucleotide analog inhibitors" (2022), and "Florasulam Is a Potent Inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Acetohydroxyacid Synthase" (2025). His scholarship garners over 20,000 citations on Google Scholar. Guddat has directed NHMRC and ARC grants such as "Acetohydroxyacid synthase: A new drug target for human fungal pathogens" (2015-2018), "Ketol-acid reductoisomerase: An important antituberculosis drug target" (2018-2021), and "Triazolopyrimidines as versatile antibiotics" (2026-2029).