معرفی
Daryl Ariawan is a Research Fellow at the Dementia Research Centre (DRC) within the Macquarie Medical School at Macquarie University. She holds a PhD in Chemistry from UNSW Sydney, completed in 2019, with expertise in synthetic organic chemistry. Her current work focuses on developing peptide-based therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia.
Her educational background includes:
- PhD in Chemistry from the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), completed in 2019. Thesis: "Exploiting the Fluorine Gauche Effect for Applications in Medicinal and Supramolecular Chemistry".
Dr. Ariawan's research centers on designing novel peptide sequences to inhibit pathogenic protein-protein interactions in dementia. She investigates nuclear transport mechanisms involving importins and nuclear localization signals, synthesizes cell-penetrating peptides and cyclotides, and develops targeted delivery systems to block neurotoxicity. Her work bridges synthetic chemistry with neuropharmacology to address degenerative disease pathways.
Her recent publications (2024-2025) reveal a cohesive research trajectory in peptide therapeutics for dementia treatment. Key themes include intranasal brain delivery systems, engineering of cyclotides for neuroprotection, and structural analysis of nuclear transport pathways. These studies demonstrate strong interdisciplinary integration of molecular biology, drug delivery, and pre-clinical modeling to translate basic discoveries into therapeutic candidates.
Dr. Ariawan serves as Chief Investigator on multiple active research projects funded by competitive grants, including:
- DEV 24: Novel protein-protein interaction inhibitor for Alzheimer’s disease (2025-2027)
- Advancing cell-targeted gene therapy for frontotemporal dementia (2024-2027)
- IDEAS 23: New biological drugs for Alzheimer's disease (2024-2027)
- Pre-clinical development of cell-penetrating peptides for dementia (2023-2025)
- Targeting TDP-43 pathology for frontotemporal dementia (2021-2023)
Based at the Dementia Research Centre, she collaborates extensively with Professor Lars Ittner's team on peptide synthesis and validation. Her laboratory work integrates transgenic mouse modeling, molecular pharmacology, and advanced peptide engineering to develop disease-modifying treatments for neurodegenerative conditions.
