Rate My Professor Renae Ryan

Professor Renae Ryan (she/her) is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney, where she holds the position of Associate Dean (Culture and Community). She received her PhD from the University of Sydney in 2004, with a thesis entitled "Molecular determinants for transport and ion channel functions of a human glutamate transporter." Following postdoctoral fellowships at Columbia University and the National Institutes of Health in the United States, she was appointed Associate Professor in the Sydney Medical School in 2010. Since 2017, she has served as Academic Director of the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Program. Previously, she chaired the Sydney Medical School Gender Equity Committee and the Early Career Researcher Network.

Professor Ryan leads a research team that applies structural biology and biophysical techniques to investigate the molecular mechanisms of neurotransmitter and amino acid transporters, focusing on their roles in cancer and neurological diseases such as episodic ataxia. Her key publications include "Coupling substrate and ion binding to extracellular gate of a sodium-dependent aspartate transporter" (2007), "Mechanisms of glutamate transport" (2013), "Targeting glutamine transport to suppress melanoma cell growth" (2014), "Loss-of-function mutations in the glutamate transporter SLC1A1 cause human dicarboxylic aminoaciduria" (2011), and articles in Nature and Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2007). She has held an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship and NHMRC Career Development Fellowship. Among her major awards are Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2023 for service to biomedical science and diversity and inclusion, Eureka Prize for Outstanding Mentor of Young Researchers (2023), Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science (2023), Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN), NSW Tall Poppy Award (2012), JA Young Medal (2017), AK McIntyre Prize (2010), and Dennis Wade Johnson & Johnson New Investigator Award (2007). Professor Ryan contributes to teaching in third-year pharmacology and physiology courses (PCOL3012, PCOL3022, PHSI3009), the Medical Program, and Doctor of Dental Medicine. Her leadership has advanced gender equity and mentoring in STEM.