In humans, billions of cells in various organs will die daily as part of a normal turnover as well as in pathological settings. During cell death, dying cells can disassemble into smaller fragments, a process that could facilitate their removal and to mediate communication with other healthy cells. Although the process of cell death has been widely studied over the last 40 years, Prof Poon has discovered a new biological process during cell death that controls how dying cells break apart into smaller pieces. Prof Poon’s research has defined (i) key aspects in the molecular machinery that regulate this newly described step of cell death, (ii) the importance of this process in disease settings, and (iii) identified novel drugs that target this process (Poon et al. 2014 Nature; Atkin-Smith et al. 2015 Nature Communications; Jiang et al. 2016 Nature Protocols; Good et al. 2018 Circulation Research). These important findings on why and how dying cells undergo such highly controlled form of cell fragmentation lay the foundations for the development of new treatments for diseases associated with cell death, including cancer, autoimmune and infectious diseases.

Work generated from Prof Poon’s group has been recognised nationally and internationally, with his work being featured in ‘News & Views’ and ‘Research Highlight’ in journals including Nature, Nature Chemical Biology, Journal of General Physiology, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, Circulation Research, and featured in >50 mainstream media including The Age, The Australian, South China Morning Post and The Guardian.

To support Prof Poon’s laboratory at the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS) in elucidating the mechanism and function of dying cell disassembly, he was awarded a NHMRC CJ Martin Fellowship, a NHMRC RD Wright Career Development Fellowship, a LIMS Hoogenraad Fellowship, as well as NHMRC EL2 and L1 Investigator Grants. Prof Poon has also received >$4.4 million research funding as the leading Chief Investigator from NHMRC (Project Grant, Investigator Grant, Fellowships), ARC (Discovery Projects), La Trobe University, as well as philanthropic funders. Prof Poon’s contribution to the scientific and wider community has also been recognised by a Peter Doherty Leading Light Award from the Australian Society for Medical Research, a La Trobe University Research Excellence Award, a Melbourne Protein Group Award Lecture, and a Victorian Young Tall Poppy Science Award from the Australian Institute of Policy & Science.

Prof Poon is a member of the Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR), the Australasian Society for Immunology (ASI), the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), and the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV). Prof Poon is also an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports, Biomolecules, and Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. Prof Poon is currently the Director of the Bioimaging Platform, and Director of the Research Centre for Extracellular Vesicles.