Rate My Professor Mark Hackett

Associate Professor Mark Hackett is an analytical chemist whose work bridges chemistry and neuroscience at Curtin University, where he holds the position of Associate Professor and Director of Research in the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering. He completed his BSc (Hons) in Analytical Chemistry at Curtin University in 2006 and his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Sydney in 2011, with a thesis on spectroscopic investigations of cerebral malaria, ischemia, and the blood-brain barrier. Following his doctorate, Hackett conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada from 2011 to 2016, supported by fellowships from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, focusing on spectroscopic studies of neurodegeneration after stroke, including ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage. He returned to Curtin University in 2016 as a Lecturer in Analytical Chemistry, advancing to Senior Lecturer and then Associate Professor.

Hackett's research specializes in developing and applying advanced spectroscopic techniques, particularly synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence imaging, to map metal ions such as iron, copper, and zinc in biological systems, elucidating their roles in brain function and dysregulation in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and stroke, as well as environmental applications such as microplastics detection. His seminal contributions include the highly cited review 'Elemental and chemically specific X-ray fluorescence imaging of biological systems' (Chemical Reviews, 2014; 385 citations), 'Chemical alterations to murine brain tissue induced by formalin fixation: implications for biospectroscopic imaging and mapping studies of disease pathogenesis' (Analyst, 2011; 223 citations), 'X-ray-induced photo-chemistry and X-ray absorption spectroscopy of biological samples' (Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 2012; 171 citations), and 'Synthesis of human amyloid restricted to liver results in an Alzheimer disease–like neurodegenerative phenotype' (PLoS Biology, 2021; 80 citations). Among his honors are the RACI Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Division Award, the 2021 Western Australian Young Tall Poppy Science Award, and an ARC Future Fellowship for projects like correlative imaging of brain lipids. Hackett impacts the field through innovative imaging tools that enable precise chemical mapping in disease models and contributes to public engagement via RACI Bayliss Youth Lectures, Hammond Park Science Outreach, and Curtin University's high school programs.