I am the Head of the Antibiotic Resistance and Bacterial Metabolism Group and an ARC DECRA Fellow at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University. I obtained a PhD in antimicrobial pharmacology from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Science in 2018. My research investigates how bacteria remodel their lipid metabolism to survive antibiotic stress and host immune responses.

I lead an independent, multidisciplinary research team that integrates molecular microbiology, systems pharmacology and analytical chemistry, particularly antimicrobial metabolomics and membrane lipidomics, to discover novel therapeutic strategies targeting lipid-associated resistance, with the goal of addressing the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance. 

In just 7 years post PhD, I have published >60 peer-reviewed papers in top journals such as Nature Communication (x2), Nature Microbiology, and Cell Reports. I have also secured more than AU$ 3 million in competitive funding, including an ARC DECRA Fellowship (2023-­26), an ARC Discovery Project (2025-28) as the CIA, and an NHMRC Ideas Grant (2024-26; co-CI).

My research has been focused on the relationship between antimicrobial resistance and the remodelling of bacterial membrane lipids and intracellular metabolites. Over the past three years, I have established an independent research program to characterise the chemical compositions and biological functions of essential bacterial lipids and intracellular metabolites using an integrative metabolomics/lpidomics and biophysical approach (e.g., neutron reflectometry). During this process I have established solid and extensive research skills in pharmacology and biochemistry, in particular, bacterial membrane lipidomics, an emerging field with only a handful of researchers in the world. My research findings have enriched our knowledge of small molecules within bacteria and will inform the future discovery of much-needed antimicrobials.

I am accepting PhD, Masters and Honours students, focusing on the research topics below. Please contact me if you are interetsed.

1. Deciphering bacterial membrane lipid remodelling and the interaction with membrane-targeting peptides
2. Targeting bacterial metabolic pathways and lipid biogenesis to combat antibiotic resistance
3. Investigating the impact of bacterial metabolites and lipids on host-pathogen interaction

Please check my lab website for details: https://www.monash.edu/discovery-institute/han-lab