Edna Hardeman

Professor Edna Hardeman is a world-renowned translational cell biologist at the University of New South Wales, serving as Head of Cell Biology in the School of Medical Sciences and a member of the NHMRC Animal Welfare Committee. Her research focuses on the actin/tropomyosin cytoskeleton in mechanobiology, targeting therapies for cancer, platelet dysfunction, cataracts, and chronic inflammatory diseases.

• Developed anti-tropomyosin drugs for cancer and other conditions
• Co-convenes undergraduate courses: PATH3210 Visualising Disease and SOMS3232 Cellular Mechanisms of Health and Disease
• Current supervisory roles: Scinetia PhD Scholar Maria Lastra Cagigas, PhD candidates Xing Xu and Marco Heydecker

Her laboratory at the Children's Medical Research Institute established mouse models for human muscle diseases, and her work with Professor Peter Gunning identified tropomyosin isoforms as druggable targets. She holds NHMRC Ideas Grant (2022) and ARC LIEF Grant (2021) for cytoskeleton research.