I obtained my PhD in 2008 in the Tiganis lab at Monash University before joining Bruce Kemp’s group at SVI in 2008 to carry out physiological analyses of metabolic kinases. I became Team Leader of the Metabolic Physiology Group in 2019 and have been independently funded by grants from NHMRC and other government and foundation bodies.
I am an internationally recognised expert in energy metabolism and animal physiology research. Many of my studies have been published in high-impact journals such as Nature Medicine, Cell Metabolism, Nature Metabolism and Cell Reports. These studies have contributed knowledge, methods and models to address some of today’s most pressing global health concerns.
One of my major scientific contributions was to identify the mechanism for the anti-diabetic effects of metformin, widely used as the first drug of choice for type 2 diabetics. This led to an interest in developing and translating new drug therapies for metabolic diseases e.g., Type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis and fatty liver disease that impose enormous health and economic burdens on Australia.
Selected publications
*Fullerton MD, *Galic S, Marcinko K, Sikkema S, Pulinilkunnil T, Chen ZP, O’Neill HM, Ford RJ, Palanivel R, O’Brien M, Hardie DG, Macaulay SL, Schertzer JD, Dyck JR, van Denderen BJ, Kemp BE & Steinberg GR. *co-first authors. Single phosphorylation sites in Acc1 and Acc2 regulate lipid homeostasis and the insulin-sensitizing effects of metformin. Nature Medicine, 19: 1649-1654 (2013).
doi: 10.1038/nm.3372
Galic S, Fullerton MD, Schertzer JD, Sikkema S, Marcinko K, Walkley CR, Izon D, Honeyman J, Chen ZP, van Denderen BJ, Kemp BE & Steinberg GR. Hematopoietic AMPK b1 reduces mouse adipose tissue macrophage inflammation and insulin resistance in obesity. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 121: 4903-4915 (2011).
doi: 10.1172/JCI58577
Galic S, Loh K, Murray-Segal L, Steinberg GR, Andrews ZB & Kemp BE. AMPK signaling to acetyl-CoA carboxylase is required for fasting- and cold-induced appetite but not thermogenesis. eLife, 7: e32656 (2018).
doi: 10.7554/eLife.32656
Neopane K, Kozlov N, Negoita F, Murray-Segal L, Brink R, Hoque A, Ovens AJ, Tjin G, McAloon LM, Yu D, Ling NXY, Sanders MJ, Oakhill JS, Scott JW, Steinberg GR, Loh K, Kemp BE, *Sakamoto K & *Galic S. *co-senior authors. Blocking AMPK b1 myristoylation enhances AMPK activity and protects mice from high-fat diet-induced obesity and hepatic steatosis. Cell Reports, 41: 111862 (2022).
doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111862
Loh K, Tam S, Murray-Segal L, Huynh K, Meikle PJ, Scott JW, van Denderen B, Chen Z, Steel R, LeBlond ND, Burkovsky LA, O’Dwyer C, Nunes JRC, Steinberg GR, Fullerton MD, *Galic S, *Kemp BE. *co-senior authors. Inhibition of AMPK-HMGR-CoA reductase signaling leads to hypercholesterolemia and promotes hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance. Hepatology Communications, 3(1):84-98 (2018).
doi: 10.1002/hep4.1279.
Pinkosky SL, Scott JW, Desjardins EM, Smith BK, Day EA, Ford RJ, Langendorf CG, Ling NXY, Nero TL, Loh K, Galic S, Hoque A, Smiles WJ, Ngoei KRW, Parker MW, Yan Y, Melcher K, Kemp BE, Oakhill JS & Steinberg GR. Long-chain fatty acyl-CoA esters regulate metabolism via allosteric control of AMPK b1 isoforms. Nature Metabolism, 2: 873-881 (2020).
doi: 10.1038/s42255-020-0245-2
ORCID profile: 0000-0002-7611-5619
Metabolic Signalling
We investigate how cells maintain their fuel levels to function and grow properly. This knowledge can be used to design better treatments for diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Lab head: Associate Professor Jon Oakhill