Current roles include: Chair and member of Board Australian Science Innovations (2002-2005); Member of Biomolecular Subcommittee of Division III (Organic) International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; Member International Advisory Board for ASOMPS XII (Indonesia) and MaNaProXII (New Zealand)

The chemistry and natural bioactivity of secondary metabolite

My research explores the chemistry and natural bioactivity of secondary metabolites from both the marine and terrestrial environment. I have a long-standing interest in the biosynthetic processes by which terpene metabolites are formed in marine sponges, and in the role of inorganic cyanide and thiocyanate in the generation of the isocyano and isothiocyanato motif commonly found in these metabolites. We have also explored the chemistry and chemical of complex 3-alkylpiperidine metabolites from marine sponges, and the chemistry of nudibranchs, especially of the genus Phyllidiella, that associate with sponges. A recent interest has been the structure elucidation of cyclic peptides from marine bacteria. Research into terrestrial natural products has focused on bioactive alkaloids and terpenes and is carried out in collaboration with chemists from South East Asia.

Selected Publications:

Salim, A., Garson, M.J., & Craik, D.J. (2004) New indole alkaloids from Alstonia scholaris. J. Nat. Prod., 67, 1591-1594.

Fahey, S.J. & Garson, M.J. (2002) Geographic variation of natural products of Asteronotus cespitosus. J. Chem. Ecol, 28, 1773-1785.

Vetter, W., Stoll, E., Garson, M.J., Fahey, S.J., Muller, J.F. (2002) Halogenated sponge natural products bioaccumulate at parts per million levels in marine mammals. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 21, 2014-2019.

Garson, M.J. (2004) Ecological perspectives on marine natural product biosynthesis. In Marine Chemical Ecology, Eds. Baker, B.J., and McClintock, J., CRC Press, pp 71-114. 2001.

Professional Associations:

Royal Australian Chemical Institute

Australian Marine Science Association

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

Funded Projects:

"Synthetic, biological and molecular studies on marine natural products of the Great Barrier Reef"

ARC Discovery, 2004-2006, $630,000

Research Collaborators:

SUKSAMRARN, Apichart
BANWELL, Martin
MOLLO, Ernesto
CIMINO, Guido

Postdoctoral Staff:

BARDEN Michael - The University of Queensland
TRAYNOR Denise - The University of Queensland

Students:

KIM Tae Kyung - PhD
ROPER Kathrein - PhD
SWASONO Respati Tri - MPhil
JUMARYATNO Pinus - MPhil
RANDS-TREVOR Karen - PhD
RUDIYANSYAH . - PhD
SOMERVILLE Michael - PhD
SUCIATI, . - MPhil
SUCIATI . - MPhil
COSGROVE Kelly - PhD
MUDIANTA I-Wayan - MPhil

Research Visitors:

Dr Kanda Panthong (Prince of Songkhla University, Thailand)