Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment

School of Life and Environmental Sciences

Prof Colin Barrow
  Phone   +61 3 522 71318
Email   colin.barrow@deakin.edu.au
Position   Chair in Biotechnology
Campus   Geelong
Research grouping   Biomolecular Sciences
Chemistry and Forensic Sciences

Professor Colin Barrow is Chair of Biotechnology at Deakin University. He is also Director of Centre
for Biotechnology, Chemistry and Systems Biology (CBCSB). Previously he was Executive Vice
President of Research and Development for Ocean Nutrition Canada (ONC) where he led the
development of seafood-derived supplement and healthy food ingredients and technologies.
Professor Barrow has a Ph.D. in marine natural products chemistry from the University of
Canterbury in New Zealand and an MBA from Penn State in the USA. Professor Barrow has
approximately 130 peer-reviewed publications and several patents. His research interests include a
broad spectrum of natural products chemistry, biological chemistry, food biotechnology and omega-
3 oil technology. His current research is primarily in two areas: Omega-3 biotechnology and amyloid
fibres and nanomaterials. His current research group at Deakin University has 8 post-doctoral
fellows and 14 PhD students and he collaborates with a variety of research groups in India, China,
New Zealand, Ireland and Canada.

Research interests

  1. Omega-3 Biotechnology and Bioprocessing
  2. Lipases and lipases modification
  3. Amyloid fibres and nanomaterials.


Career

Professor and Chair in Biotechnology, Deakin University.
Executive Vice President of Research & Development, ONC Ltd, Canada
Senior Lecturer, School of Chemistry, Unversity of Melbourne.
Senior Research Investigator, Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals, USA.
Research Fellow, Suntory, Japan.

Key publications

Verma, M.L.; Barrow, C.J.; Kennedy, J. and Puri, M. (2012) Immobilization of beta-d-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis on functionalized silicon dioxide nanoparticles: Characterization and lactose hydrolysis. In. J. Biol. Macromol. 50, 432-437

Joshi, M.; Adhikari, B.; Aldred, P.; Ranozzo, J.F.; Kasapis, S. and Barrow, C.J. (2012) Interfacial and emulsifying properties of lentil protein isolate Food Chemistry 134, 1343-1353

Kralovec, J.A.; Zhang, S.; Zhang, W. and Barrow, C.J. (2012) A review of the progress in enzymatic concentration and microencapsulation of omega-3 rich oil from fish and microbial sources. Food Chemistry 131, 639-644

Puri, M.; Sharma, D. and Barrow, C.J. (2012) Enzyme-assisted extraction of bioactives from plants. Trends in Biotechnology 30, 37-44

Debeljuh, N.; Barrow, C.J. and Byrne, N. (2011) The impact of ionic liquids on amyloid fibrilization of Abeta16-22: tuning the rate of fibrilization using a reverse Hofmeister strategy. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phy. 13, 16534-16536

View entire list of audited publications

Professional activities

Treasurer, International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (ISNFF)
Member of Board of Directors for International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL)
Chair, Scientific Advisory Board, NutraMara, Ireland.

 

Postdoctoral fellows

NameProject title
Dr Jacqui Adcock (ARC Fellow)Production and studies of omega-3 resolvins and protectins. Dr Munish Puri (Senior Fellow)Industrial Biotechnology. Dr Richard Williams (ADPF)Peptide Self-Assembled Nanomaterials. Dr Pimm Vongsvivut (ADPF)Vibrational Microspectroscopy for Forensic and Biotechnological Analysis. Dr Madan Verma (ADPF)Lipase modification for selective hydrolysis of omega-3 fatty acids. Dr Nolene Byrne (ARC Fellow)Nolene is an independent Fellow with a variety of projects in the ionic liquids and fibres areas. Dr Wenrong Wang (Lecturer)Carbon-based nanomaterials and graphene for biosensor applciations Dr Bo Wang (CRN Fellow)Development of microencapsulation technologies for the delivery of unstable bioactive ingredients into food and beverage products. Dr Huihua Liu (CRN Fellow - Ballarat)Development of microencapsulation technologies for the delivery of unstable bioactive ingredients into food and beverage products.  

 

PhD students

Student nameThesis title
Adarsha GuptaIsolation and characterisation of marine thraustochtrids. Avinesh ByreddyMolecular engineering of lipases. Natalie DebeljuhThe design and characerization of amyloid fibers. Reinu AbrahamCellulases for biofuel production. Taiwo AkanbiModification of lipase omega-3 selectivity. Tamilselvi ThyagarajanMarine microbial fermentation. Tim NalderNovel marine-derived lipases. Tim WalshEnzymatic formation of resolvins and protectins. Rui LiAmyloid materials for tissue engineering. Polly DobsonChemistry and biology of resolvins and protectins.  

 

Masters students

Student nameThesis title Anand Khedar (DIRI PhD Student)Development of novel insulin analogues (Biocon) Dilip Singh (DIRI PhD Student)Indian and Australia Thraustochytrids for biofuel production (Indian Oil) Shilendra Sonkar (DIRI PhD Student)Building omega-3 pathways into yeast (Evola) Streeparna Samanta (TERRI PhD Student)Nanoliposomes for targeted drug delivery (TERRI) Amritpreet Minhas (TERRI PhD Student)Lipid production and extraction from marine microalgae (TERRI)  

 

Teaching areas

Masters of Biotechnology
Professional Practices in Biosciences


Deakin University acknowledges the traditional land owners of present campus sites.

8th February 2013