Christopher McErlean

Professor Christopher McErlean is an Associate Professor in the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney. His academic journey includes a B.Sc. (Hons I) and Ph.D. from the University of Queensland (1997–2002), followed by postdoctoral roles at the Universities of Nottingham and Exeter. He has held academic positions at the University of Sydney since 2007, progressing from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer and currently Associate Professor.

His research focuses on organic synthesis, particularly novel catalytic methods (e.g., on-water catalysis) and the chemistry of strigolactones—a class of plant hormones. He leads the McErlean Research Group, which develops synthetic strategies for natural products and investigates plant-microbe interactions. He is affiliated with the Sydney Institute of Agriculture and the Centre for Drug Discovery Innovation.

Recent work includes studies on HTL/KAI2 plant signaling pathways and fungal phosphate homeostasis modulation by strigolactones. His lab’s facilities include cutting-edge instrumentation at the University of Sydney’s Chemistry Building. He has secured grants such as the NSW RNA Production and Research Network (2021) and a Discovery Project on chemical probes (2017).

• Grants: NSW RNA Production and Research Network (2021), Modular Toolkit for Living Cells (2017)
• Lab Focus: On-water catalysis, strigolactone synthesis, and natural product total synthesis