Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
- 2001 - PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, UNSW, AU
- 2001-2003 - postdoc, Technical University of Delft, NL
- 2003-2011 - postdoc, University College London, UK
- 2011-2016 - Royal Society University Research Fellow, University College London, UK
- 2016 - present - ARC Future Fellow, Monash University, AU
Research interests
I am interested in how nutrition affects various aspects of fitness and and long-term health. Our model organism of choice is the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
The interaction between an organism, nutrition and its environment is complex. Inevitably, organisms must consume a diet that is not perfectly matched to their requirements. They must therefore implement strategies to alter their ability to seek out, consume, absorb and metabolise various nutrients in a manner that is sensitive to their nutritional history as well as current and perceived future experiences. My work seeks to understand the mechansms by which organisms modulate these traits.
Together, these underpin a range of projects on insect behaviour and physiology. The application of these activities will enable us to use nutrition as a treatment to enhance health and ageing.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- nutrition
- Drosophila
- ageing
- fitness
- dietary restriction
Network
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Defining diets to treat inborn errors of amino acid metabolism
Piper, M. & Johnson, T.
1/01/20 → 31/12/23
Project: Research
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Small, portable incubator for insect maintenance
Piper, M., Henstridge, M. & Johnson, T.
1/10/21 → 31/12/22
Project: Research
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Deciphering the role of SIK3 in development and disease
Parsons, L., Warr, C., Piper, M. & Cagan, R.
1/04/19 → 31/03/22
Project: Research
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Understanding diet designs that break life history trade-offs
Australian Research Council (ARC), Monash University
1/03/16 → 29/02/20
Project: Research
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Ageing impairs protein leveraging in a sex-specific manner in Drosophila melanogaster
Rushby, H. J., Andrews, Z. B., Piper, M. D. W. & Mirth, C. K., Jan 2023, In: Animal Behaviour. 195, p. 43-51 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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Biosynthetic constraints on amino acid synthesis at the base of the food chain may determine their use in higher-order consumer genomes
Ortega, J. G., Raubenheimer, D., Tyagi, S., Mirth, C. K. & Piper, M. D. W., 13 Feb 2023, In: PLoS Genetics. 19, 2, 21 p., e1010635.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Drosophila as a diet discovery tool for treating amino acid disorders
Mele, S., Martelli, F., Lin, J., Kanca, O., Christodoulou, J., Bellen, H. J., Piper, M. D. W. & Johnson, T. K., Feb 2023, In: Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism. 34, 2, p. 85-105 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Drosophila melanogaster females prioritise dietary sterols for producing viable eggs
Zanco, B., Rapley, L., Johnstone, J. N., Dedman, A., Mirth, C. K., Sgrò, C. M. & Piper, M. D. W., Jan 2023, In: Journal of Insect Physiology. 144, 6 p., 104472.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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Amino acid quality modifies the quantitative availability of protein for reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster
Ma, C., Mirth, C. K., Hall, M. D. & Piper, M. D. W., May 2022, In: Journal of Insect Physiology. 139, 5 p., 104050.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
11 Citations (Scopus)