We now know that sugars attached to proteins and lipids on every cell (glycans) are intricately involved in bacterial and viral infection, the immune responses (both innate and acquired), all cancers, lung disease, brain function, fertilisation, cardiovascular disease and a multitude of other cellular mechanisms in human and all other species. My objective is to increase the scientific research activity in this field so that beneficial improvements to our biological understanding, and ultimately treatment, of health and disease can be achieved. To implement my objective, I have spent the last almost 30 years or so (with some time out to rear three children) applying my knowledge and leadership skills to achieve this implementation.

Prof Nicki Packer has had an extensive and varied career in biochemical research in both Chemistry and Biological Sciences. She was part of the team that established the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility (APAF) and co-founded Proteome Systems Limited, an Australian biotechnology company in which her group developed a platform of glycoanalytical technology and informatics tools. She is now Distinguished Professor of Glycoproteomics, Deputy Director of the MQ Biomolecular Discovery Research Centre and Academic Lead of APAF at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. She is a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Nanoscale Biophotonics and in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology. She has gained international and national profile by linking glycomics with the proteomics and bioinformatics approaches to biological functional research. Her research interests are now in the structure, function, informatics and application of glycans and their conjugates as molecular markers, particularly in their role in cancer, therapeutics and microbial infection. Nicki has published extensively on glycomics research and works closely with industry.