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Nicholas J. McKenzie

Melbourne, VIC, Australia | GitHub | LinkedIn | Email:

Education

Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
Doctor of Philosophy
2018–2023
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences
Thesis: Identifying the function of JARID2 and AEBP2 in nucleic acid binding
Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours)
2017
Specialisation: Biochemistry
Thesis: Identifying an RNA-binding site within the histone methyltransferase PRC2
Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts (Double Degree)
2013–2016
Double Major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Major in Japanese, Major in Asian Studies

Experience

Australian National University (ANU) Canberra, Australia
Bioinformatician (Postdoctoral Researcher)
2022–2023
  • Python Nextflow pipelines for CRISPR screen data
  • RNA-seq analyses; custom R analyses
Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
PhD Candidate Researcher
2018–2023
  • 100% research based. Responsibilities were the same as that of an employed researcher, with the additional responsibility of writing a doctoral thesis.
  • Laboratory work, data analysis, scientific presentations, technical writing (scientific papers and a dissertation)
  • Investigated PRC2–DNA/RNA interactions and recruitment
  • Developed RBDmap Lite (R Shiny app for XL-MS data)
  • Protein expression/purification protocols (PRC2–AEBP2–JARID2)
Monash University Melbourne, Australia
Honours Student Researcher 2017
  • Majority research based.
  • Adapted RBDmap to identify RNA-binding residues in vitro
Monash University Melbourne, Australia
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Research Assistant (Paid Internship) 2016–2017
  • Protein expression/purification, RNA transcription, molecular cloning
Monash University Melbourne, Australia
Research Assistant 2015
  • KLK-5 expression optimisation; epitope analysis of GAD65
Monash University Melbourne, Australia
Summer Research Scholarship Student (Paid Internship) 2014–2015
  • KLK-5 expression optimisation; epitope analysis of GAD65

Publications

  • *Zhang, Q., *McKenzie, N.J., *Warneford-Thomson, R., et al., 2019. RNA exploits an exposed regulatory site to inhibit the enzymatic activity of PRC2. Nature structural & molecular biology, 26(3), pp.237-247. [Link to paper]
  • Ohtomo H., Ito S., McKenzie N.J., et al., 2023. Journal of Molecular Biology, 435(4), p.167936. [Link to paper]
  • Additional co-first author paper currently under review...
Asterisk (*) denotes co-first authorship

Conference Presentations & Posters

  • 3rd Place Oral Presentation, Monash Biochemistry PhD Student Symposium (2019)
  • Best Poster Award, meRNA 2018 Student Symposium (2018)
  • Honours Student Speaker Award, meRNA Club (2017)

Bioinformatics & Computational Skills

  • Languages: Python, R, Bash
  • Tools: Nextflow, R Shiny, Git/GitHub, HTML, Unix
  • Projects: RBDmap Lite, DNA complexity filter, RNA-seq/ChIP-seq pipelines, Japanese study tools

Certificates & Professional Development

  • Fundamentals of Computing Specialization (Coursera)
  • Finding Hidden Messages in DNA (Bioinformatics I, Coursera)
  • Conferences: Victorian Cancer Bioinformatics Symposium, BioC Asia, AMSI BioInfoSummer

Teaching & Mentoring

  • Co-supervisor, Undergraduate lab project, Monash University (2020)
  • Teaching Associate, Molecular Biology and the Cell (MCB2011), Monash University (2019)

Grants & Prizes

  • RTP Stipend (2018–2021) – Competitive stipend awarded to high-quality research candidates which funds a PhD tuition and living expenses.
  • Charlee Ferrar Scholarship (2018–2021) — Top-up scholarship amount of AUD$5,000 per year from the Isabella and Marcus Pediatric Brainstem Tumour Fund to support my PhD at Monash University.
  • UROP CSL Stipend (2016) — A small grant for research consumables was provided to the lab by biotechnology company CSL for undertaking an approved project during my placement in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP).
  • SCI2015 Best Blogger Award — Science communication award for the undergraduate study unit "SCI2015 - Scientific practice and communication (advanced)” for weekly assessed science communication blog posts. Received a H. pylori T-shirt as a prize sent from Nobel Prize-winning Australian scientist Barry Marshall. 2014
  • AsiaBound Scholarship (AUD$5,000) — Grant from the Australian Government to cover studying abroad at Nagoya University, Japan for one semester in 2015.
  • Australian-Asian Association of Victoria Inc. award for high achievement in Japanese language learning at Monash University ($300) — (2014)

Other Skills

  • Languages: English (native), Japanese (JLPT-N2)
  • CAD & 3D Printing: Fusion 360; designed lab equipment shared on Thingiverse and Printables