Affiliation: Flinders University, Mary Overton Senior Research Fellow

Dr. Yee Lian Chew is an early-career researcher (PhD awarded March 2015) and an emerging leader in the field of cellular neuroscience using the Caenorhabditis elegans model organism. Her PhD research at the University of Sydney, Australia focussed on the role of a neuronal protein in C. elegans related to the Tau protein in mammals, which is strongly implicated in the pathology of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. In August 2015, Dr. Chew joined the team of Dr. William Schafer at the world-leading Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge UK, supported by a Medical Research Council Career Development Fellowship (CDF) and a European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) Long-term Fellowship. As a postdoctoral fellow, she gained expertise in techniques for dissecting the fundamental neural mechanisms underlying physiological and dysfunctional states.

Currently, a Research Fellow at Flinders University, Australia, her research vision is to investigate the principles of how changes in neuromodulation can contribute to learning and memory, and how defects in this process lead to neuropathology. Dr. Chew was recently awarded an NHMRC Investigator Grant 2020 (EL1) and Rebecca L Cooper Project Grant 2020 to further develop this program of research.

Lastly, Dr. Chew is dedicated to advocating for the benefit of underrepresented groups in STEM. She is currently Chair of the Australian Academy of Science EMCR Forum Executive, a team of 12 nationally recognized researchers who act as an advocacy group for EMCRs in Australia.