Nicholas Plachta moving to A*Star

An expert in biological imaging and embryonic development from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) has announced he will be leaving Monash to join Singapore’s lead scientific agency.

Dr Nicolas Plachta joined ARMI as an EMBL Australia Group leader, based at Monash University, in 2011. He will join the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) at Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) later this year as Senior Principal Investigator to lead his own research group.

Dr Plachta said the position at A*STAR represented an outstanding opportunity and was not an offer he could turn down.

“Being an EMBL Australia Group Leader has launched my career. I have had a fantastic experience at ARMI, driving forward my research in ways I didn’t think possible. One of the highlights has to be receiving the Senior Medical Research Fellowship from theSylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation Fellowship last year for the work I have done whilst at the Institute,” he said.

“Key to my success has been the efforts of my research team, who I wish to acknowledge and thank for all their hard and excellent work. I wish them and everyone at ARMI all the very best for the future,” Dr Plachta said.

Director of ARMI and Scientific Head of EMBL Australia, Professor Nadia Rosenthal said Dr Plachta’s work has been crucial in establishing ARMI as a cutting-edge institute uncovering new information on the very basics of regenerative medicine.

“By developing novel imaging techniques Nicolas has provided new insights into how cells and molecules interact during the very early stages of life. There’s no doubt that his findings have set the stage for new research both here and internationally,” she said.

“On behalf of everyone at ARMI and EMBL Australia, I wish to thank Nicolas for all his efforts and congratulate him on this exciting new post,” Professor Rosenthal said.

In addition to the Viertel Fellowship, Dr Plachta has received numerous grants including the A*STAR Investigatorship Award, NHMRC Fellowship and Project Grants and an ARC Fellowship and Discovery Grant.

Before joining ARMI, Dr Plachta worked at the Biological Imaging Centre of the California Institute of Technology and at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel.

Source: http://monash.edu/news/show/nicolas-plachta-to-move-to-astar