Dr Jean Giacomotto

NHMRC Fellow & Group Leader
Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics
Griffith University

Dr Jean Giacomotto is an NHMRC Fellow and Group Leader at the Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics (Griffith University), and honorary at the Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland. He began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Sanofi in Paris before completing a joint-PhD with the CNRS in Lyon in 2010, where he pioneered the use of small-animal models for high-throughput drug discovery and chemical genetics.

His research sits at the intersection of human genetics, disease modelling, functional genomics, advanced imaging, automation and drug discovery. Working closely with clinicians and international genetics networks, his team develops innovative in vivo platforms to uncover disease mechanisms, resolve uncertain genetic findings and identify therapeutic opportunities, with a particular focus on neurological and rare diseases.

A major focus of his program is the use of zebrafish as a rapid and scalable vertebrate platform to move from genes to mechanisms and therapies. His team models disorders including motor neuron diseases, epilepsy and neurodevelopmental conditions, combining genetic engineering, phenotypic analysis and drug screening to bridge the gap between genomic discovery and actionable clinical care.

Driven by a vision to accelerate translation from bench to bedside, Dr Giacomotto’s team aims to develop the next generation of experimental tools for understanding disease, supporting diagnosis and discovering therapies that improve patient outcomes.

Please join us for a light lunch in the breakout room following the seminar from 12pm – 12.30pm.