Dr Jeff Nanson completed his PhD in 2015 in the group of Professor Jade Forwood at Charles Sturt University, investigating proteins involved in bacterial fatty acid synthesis as targets for the development of new antibiotics.

During his PhD, Dr Nanson determined 13 protein structures and established techniques to investigate enzyme inhibition. This work led to industry collaboration to further develop inhibitors initially investigated during his doctorate.

Following his PhD, Dr Nanson worked at The Australian National University, prior to being recruited to Prof Bostjan Kobe's laboratory at the University of Queensland to investigate Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and TIR domain-containing signalling assemblies.

At the University of Queensland, Dr Nanson used protein crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy to provide key insights into the enzymatic activity of human SARM1 and plant TIR domain-containing proteins (Science, 2019), as well as the mechanisms that activate SARM1, which ultimately result in axon degeneration and neuronal cell death (Neuron, 2021; Mol Cell, 2022), and the production of cyclic signalling molecules by bacterial NADases (Science, 2022).

Dr Nanson has also contributed to investigations of the TLR adaptor proteins MyD88 (Nat Commun, 2021) and SCIMP (JBC, 2022), and the TIR domain-containing protein IL-1R10 (FEBS Lett, 2022) to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of TIR domain signalling and further our understanding of immune system pathways.

Dr Nanson joined Charles Sturt University and the Gulbali Institute’s Centre for Biosecurity in 2023, where he uses his expertise to develop vaccines and drugs to combat viral and plant pathogens that threaten Australia’s biosecurity and global health.