Professor John Christodoulou
Children's Hospital, Westmead, NSW
Funding Partner 2008
Rotary Club of Pennant Hills, NSW
Born in Sydney in 1958, John obtained his medical degree at the University of Sydney in 1981. He undertook his internship at Westmead Hospital, and went to on to train in paediatrics at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, after which he moved to Melbourne to finish his training in Paediatrics. He also undertook specialist training in clinical genetics, completing his PhD in the field of genetic metabolic disorders at the University of Melbourne in 1991. In 1990, he relocated to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, where he gained further clinical and postdoctoral research experience in genetic metabolic disorders.
John returned to Sydney in 1992, to take up the position of Senior Lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney and the Royal Alexandra Hospital of Children (now the Children’s Hospital at Westmead). From 1994 to 1995, he was Acting Head of the Department of Genetics at the Hospital, also becoming Head of the PKU clinic in 1995. In 1997 he became the Director of the Western Sydney Genetics Program, one of the few integrated clinical and laboratory diagnostic genetics services in Australia. His clinical and research interests include inborn errors of metabolism and neuro-developmental disorders.
John was promoted to the position Professor in the Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health in 2004. He is the Chair of the Board of Postgraduate Studies in Dentistry, Medicine and Pharmacy, which is responsible for the administration of over 900 postgraduate research students. He served as President of the Human Genetics Society of Australasia from 2005 to 2007.
SUMMARY OF PROJECT:
Development of novel treatment strategies for phenylketonuria
Individuals affected with phenylketonuria (PKU) are unable to efficiently clear excessive dietary phenylalanine from the blood. PKU is toxic to the brain. Current treatment involves the use of a complex unpalatable diet. Researchers aim to develop a genetically modified pro-biotic that can effectively clear phenylalanine from the gut before it is absorbed into the bloodstream, thereby protecting the brain from damage.
Developing such a genetically modified pro-biotic is a complex multi-step endeavour. Researchers are currently part of the way through this process. Once this is perfected, they will be in a position to test the new therapy in a PKU mouse model. If this proves safe and effective, they will embark on human clinical trials of this novel therapy for PKU.