Sarah Annesley

Sarah Annesley serves as a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She leads the Molecular Cell Biology Group with continuous academic appointments since 2005, progressing from Level A Research Fellow to her current Level C Senior Research Fellow position. Her work bridges fundamental cell biology with clinical applications through extensive collaborations with medical research foundations.

Dr. Annesley's research focuses on neurological disease mechanisms with primary emphasis on Parkinson's Disease (PD), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), and Long-COVID. Her laboratory investigates metabolic changes, immune dysfunction, gut microbiota interactions, gene expression alterations, and epigenetic modifications to identify diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Notably, her team aims to develop the first diagnostic tests for ME/CFS and Long-COVID using blood-based biomarkers, while also enabling early PD detection before clinical symptoms manifest.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals strong interdisciplinary focus spanning immunology, neuroscience, and molecular biology. Key trends include amyloid aggregation in post-viral syndromes, kynurenine pathway dysregulation in ME/CFS, mitochondrial dysfunction biomarkers, and innovative cellular imaging techniques. Her work consistently employs Dictyostelium discoideum as a model system while validating findings in human lymphoblasts and fibroblasts.

• Mason Foundation ME/CFS Research Grants (2021-2028)
• National Institutes of Health (Michael J Fox Foundation) Parkinson's Disease biomarker study (2015-2018)
• Australian Research Council Discovery Projects on TORC1 signaling (2014-2016)
• ARC Research Hub for Protected Cropping (2025-2029)

Dr. Annesley actively supervises research students through 43 documented projects since 2010, primarily investigating neurological disease mechanisms using Dictyostelium models. Her professional activities include editorial roles for Mitochondria in Health and Disease, committee membership in the Melbourne Discovery Research Network, and frequent peer review for journals including Journal of Cell Science and Cells. She has organized multiple international conferences including the International Dictyostelium Conference and Mason Foundation workshops for ME/CFS biobank development.