Professor Megan Maher is Professor in Chemical Biology and Deputy Head of School in the School of Chemistry, Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne, and a researcher at the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute. She was awarded a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Melbourne in 1998, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Sydney. From 2008 to 2011, she held the position of Cancer Institute of NSW Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader at the Centenary Institute. In early 2012, she relocated to La Trobe University as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry, later advancing to Associate Professor. In 2019, Maher joined the School of Chemistry and Bio21 at the University of Melbourne as part of the Driving Research Momentum strategy and received an ARC Future Fellowship. Her research employs bioinorganic chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology, particularly X-ray crystallography, to elucidate how biological systems acquire, balance, and utilize trace elements such as iron, copper, and zinc. These elements are essential for cellular function, immunity, and medicine but toxic in excess, with dysregulation linked to neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and prion diseases.

Maher’s projects focus on cellular metal homeostasis, structures and functions of integral membrane protein transporters for metal transport across membranes, mechanisms of mitochondrial complex assembly relevant to mitochondrial disease, and electron transfer within and between protein metal sites. Key publications include 'Intermolecular transfer of copper ions from the CopC protein of Pseudomonas syringae. Crystal structures of fully loaded CuI-CuII forms' (2006, Journal of the American Chemical Society), 'Dysregulation of transition metal ion homeostasis is the molecular basis for cadmium toxicity in Streptococcus pneumoniae' (2015, Nature Communications), 'The structure of the yeast NADH dehydrogenase (Ndi1) reveals overlapping binding sites for water- and lipid-soluble substrates' (2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), and 'Structural and functional characterization of the mitochondrial complex IV assembly factor Coa6' (2019, Life Science Alliance). She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry and has authored book chapters such as 'SoxAX Cytochromes' (2013, Encyclopedia of Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry).

Professional Email: megan.maher@unimelb.edu.au