Mark von Itzstein - biography

Professor Mark von Itzstein is a graduate of Griffith University. He completed his PhD in organic chemistry under the guidance of Professor Ian Jenkins and Professor Gus Guthrie in 1984. His research interests at Griffith University covered aspects of organophosphorus and carbohydrate chemistry. Professor von Itzstein was then awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship to undertake research at the Universität Marburg, Germany, in collaboration with Professor Dr Manfred Reetz. In Germany, Professor von Itzstein focused his previous research interests towards organometallic chemistry, in particular organotitanium chemistry, and the development of novel synthetic reagents. In 1986 he joined the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the now Faculty of Pharmacy, Monash University, and from 1996 to 1999 was Head of Department and Professor of Medicinal Chemistry.

Whilst in Melbourne, Professor von Itzstein's research group played a pivotal role in the design and synthesis of RelenzaT, the first anti-viral drug discovered in Australia to be approved for the treatment of influenza worldwide. As a result of this research, Professor von Itzstein was jointly awarded the prestigious Australia Prize for pharmaceutical design in 1996.

In February 2000 Professor von Itzstein returned to Griffith University to establish, with support from the Queensland Government, the Centre for Biomolecular Science and Drug Discovery, which was renamed the Institute for Glycomics in 2003. This Institute has, as its mission, the task of discovering clinically-useful medicines. Professor von Itzstein's research group is particularly interested in the discovery of new generation antibiotics and anti-virals and drugs to treat cancer as well as other conditions.

In 2001 Professor von Itzstein was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis in recognition of his outstanding contributions to scientific endeavour. Then in 2002 Professor von Itzstein was awarded a Federation Fellowship, Australia's most prestigious research fellowship, to undertake research focussing on "Carbohydrates and Carbohydrate-Recognising Proteins as Drug Discovery Targets". In 2003 Professor von Itzstein was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Science in recognition of a career that has significantly advanced the world's scientific knowledge in the field of biomolecular science.

Professor von Itzstein's current research interests cover various aspects of organic chemistry, carbohydrate chemistry, rational drug design, computational chemistry, and biochemistry, in particular, enzymology. Professor von Itzstein has published over 100 papers and invited reviews and has lodged over 20 provisional patent applications and 11 international applications in the field of Glycoscience.

One of Professor von Itzstein's major research active areas has been in the field of sialic acid chemistry and biology. Sialic acids and sialic acid-metabolising enzymes have been implicated in many biological roles and, indeed, disease states. Sialidases (enzymes which cleave sialic acids from various glycoconjugates) play important roles in viral and bacterial infections such as influenza and cholera respectively. Another sialic acid-metabolising enzyme, sialyltransferase, is presumed to be involved in metastasis.

Professor von Itzstein has had extensive experience with industry partnerships. Most notably, his long collaboration with the now GlaxoSmithKline Pty Ltd and the development of RelenzaT. Professor von Itzstein was invited by GlaxoSmithKline (Japan) in 2000 to participate in the launch of RelenzaT to the Japanese market. More recently Professor von Itzstein has commenced relationships with the Australian-based companies Progen Industries Ltd and Meditech Research Ltd.

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