I am a molecular pharmacologist who works at the University of Adelaide, Australia. I have a broad interest in the understanding of how surface receptors can modulate neuronal function and survival, as well as interests in natural product pharmacology and drug design. As well I am interested in evolutionary biology, science communication (committee member of SA Science Communicators) and am an avid amateur astronomer. My astronomy blog is astroblog.I did postdoctoral work in the Institute of Pharmacology at the Free University of Berlin in 1991-1994, returning to Australia in 1994. I have collaborated with Professor John Carver, Dr. Scot Smid and Professor Colin Barrow on using natural products to attack the neurodegeneration process in Alzheimer’s Disease. I was recently elected as convenor of the Toxicology Special Interest Group of the Australasian Society for Pharmacology and Toxicology. I am also collaborating with Professor Roger Byard on the forensic implications of herbal medicines. I have held NH&MRC funding and currently hold ARC funding.