Peter Karuso

Adjunct Professor Peter Karuso is affiliated with the University of New South Wales in the Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences department. Previously, he was a Professor at Macquarie University and a Research Scientist at Texas A&M University.

• PhD in Organic Chemistry, University of Sydney (1985)
• Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, Technische Universität München (1989)

Karuso is internationally recognized for his work in natural products chemistry, chemical biology, and biotechnology. He pioneered the Mercurious platform for drug target discovery, integrating molecular biology, next-gen sequencing, and machine learning. His research spans marine natural products, phage display, and reverse chemical proteomics, culminating in the commercialization of the Deep Purple proteomics stain and founding two biotech startups: Fluorotechnics Pty Ltd (ASX-listed) and MINIMUM bio Pty Ltd (2022).

Scientific awards include:

• Archibald Ollé Prize
• RACI Innovation Award (Commercialisation)
• Outstanding Teacher Awards (2 Macquarie University)
• Fellowships from Royal Society of NSW and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

He supervises Valentin Payet (PhD) and has advised innovations in proteomics, bioactive compound discovery, and non-invasive cancer diagnostics. His work is supported by grants from ARC, MLA/MDC, and CRC(P).