معرفی
Ben Clifton is a Lecturer (Teaching and Research) in the School of Molecular Sciences at The University of Western Australia, where he joined in January 2025. His research spans protein biochemistry with particular focus on structural biology, evolutionary biochemistry, biotechnology, and marine microbiology.
His research interests include:
- Discovery of new protein function in the marine metagenome
- Function and engineering of RNA-modifying enzymes
- Molecular mechanisms of functional evolution in proteins
Dr. Clifton's work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through biotechnology research. His expertise encompasses protein engineering, structural biology, protein evolution, protein-ligand interactions, and enzymology. His research forms a distinctive fingerprint across areas including protein reconstruction, binding proteins, dehydratases, enzymes, enzymatic activity, arginine, protein engineering, and molecular dynamics.
His notable scientific achievement includes the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Overseas Researchers awarded in 2020, which supported his work at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan. His publications have been featured in high-impact journals including Nature and Nucleic Acids Research, with significant attention from news outlets and academic platforms.
As an educator, Dr. Clifton teaches courses including BIOC3001 (Molecular Biology), BIOC3005 (Cellular Biochemistry), BIOC4002 (Fundamentals of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I), MSCI4098/4099 (Seminar Presentation and Appraisal), and SCIE4404 (Techniques in Molecular Sciences). He is actively accepting PhD and Higher Degree by Research students, with current project opportunities available through the university's research portal.
