Dr Daniel Garama is a protein chemist and mass-spectrometry specialist at Hudson Institute of Medical Research. He has dedicated his career to the use of protein chemistry and proteomic approaches to elucidate and understand fundamental biological mechanisms that lead to clinical and commercial outcomes. He specialises in proteomic techniques, particularly the design and use of mass spectrometry to identify protein interactions, function and post translational modifications. Dr Garama has over 15 years of experience in this field and has undertaken training at specialist international facilities to become an expert in both qualitative and quantitative techniques, along with specialist training in native-MS, hydrogen-deuterium exchange-MS, label free-MS and post translational modification analysis.

His current research interest surrounds mitochondrial proteomics, particularly those involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and the import, modification and interactions of non-MTS tagged proteins into the mitochondria.

Selected publications

• Josephs TM, Belousoff MJ, Liang YL, Piper SJ, Cao J, Garama DJ, Leach K, Gregory KJ, Christopoulos A, Hay DL, Danev R, Wootten D, Sexton PM (2021) Structure and dynamics of the CGRP receptor in apo and peptide-bound forms. Science Feb 18:eabf7258. doi: 10.1126/Science.abf7258.

• Balic JJ, Albargy H, Luu K, Kirby FJ, Jayasekara WSN, Mansell F, Garama DJ, De Nardo D, Baschuk N, Louis C, Humphries F, Fitzgerald K, Latz E, Gough DJ, Mansell A (2020) STAT3 serine phosphorylation is required for TLR4 metabolic reprogramming and IL-1β expression. Nat Commun 11:3816.

• Balic JJ, Garama DJ, Saad MI, Yu L, West AC, West AJ, Livis T, Bhathal PS, Gough DJ, Jenkins BJ (2019) Serine-phosphorylated STAT3 promotes tumorigenesis via modulation of RNA polymerase transcriptional activity. Cancer Res. 79: 5272-5287.

• Brewster J, Garama D, Lamare M, Carne A (2018) Carotenoid composition of a New Zealand (Evechinus chloroticus) and an Australian (Heliocidaris erythrogramma) sea urchin in relation to gonad colour. Aquac Res 49:2751-2762.

• Sandow JJ, Rainczuk A, Infusini G, Makanji M, Bilandzic M, Wilson AL, Fairweather N, Stanton PG, Garama D, Gough D, Jobling TW, Webb AI, Stephens AN (2018) Discovery and Validation of Novel Protein Biomarkers in Ovarian Cancer Patient Urine. Proteomics Clin Appl 12:e1700135.

• Guanizo AC, Fernando CD, Garama DJ, Gough DJ (2018) STAT3: a multifaceted oncoprotein. Growth Factors 36: 1-14.

• Szczepny A, Carey K, McKenzie L, Jayasekara WSN, Rossello F, Gonzalez-Rajal A, McCaw AS, Popovski D, Wang D, Sadler AJ, Mahar A, Russell PA, Wright G, McCloy RA, Garama DJ, Gough DJ, Baylin SB, Burgess A, Cain JE, Watkins DN (2018) The tumor suppressor Hic1 maintains chromosomal stability independent of Tp53 Oncogene 37:1939-1948.

• Lee WT, Sun X, Tsai TS, Johnson JL, Gould JA, Garama DJ, Gough DJ, McKenzie M, Trounce IA,  St John JC (2017) Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes induce differential patterns of DNA methylation that result in differential chromosomal gene expression patterns. Cell Death Discov 3:17062.

• Garama DJ, White CL, Balic JJ, Gough DJ (2016) Mitochondrial STAT3: Powering up a potent factor. Cytokine 87: 20-25.

• Garama DJ, Harris TJ, White CL, Rossello FJ, Abdul-Hay M, Gough DJ, Levy DE (2015) A synthetic lethal interaction between glutathione synthesis and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species provides a tumor-specific vulnerability dependent on STAT3. Mol Cell Biol 35:3646-3656.

• Pilbrow JR, Sabherwal M, Garama DJ, Carne A (2014) A novel fatty acid-binding protein-like carotenoid-binding protein from the gonad of the New Zealand sea urchin Evechinus chloroticus. PLoS ONE. 9: e106465.

• Gillard GB, Garama DJ, Brown CM (2014) The transcriptome of the NZ endemic sea urchin Kina (Evechinus chloroticus). BMC Genomics 15:45.