Molecular Genetics Team
Pavel Bitter, Molecular Genetics Facility Manager
Pavel has managed research and diagnostic labs in Germany and Australia. Throughout his years in research, he has worked with various techniques covering protein isolation, cell sorting, and microscopy. He has extensive experience in realtime PCR, Sanger sequencing, genotyping and is overseeing the OGTR, PC2 and NATA ISO 17025 & 15189 requirements of the facility. He has been managing the Garvan Molecular Genetics facility since 2007.
Email: p.bitter@garvan.org.au
Deborah White, Senior Scientific Services Coordinator (MGS) / Quality Manager (GMG)
Deborah completed her Bachelors in Biochemistry and her Masters in Applied Sciences at the University College Cork in Ireland in 2011. She began working in Garvan Molecular Genetics in 2013 and is currently working in the Mouse Genotyping Service as a Programmer. She plans approximately 1,000 samples a day, programs Janus robots, additionally she is the Quality Manager of the Garvan Molecular Genetics facility.
Email: d.white@garvan.org.au
Dr Jason Seow, Senior Scientific Services Coordinator (MGS)
Jason completed his PhD in Medicine in 2012 at the University of Sydney. Before that he completed his Honours of Science in Developmental Biology at the University of Queensland. He has worked as a Research Assistant in Singapore and Australia and joined the Garvan Institute in 2013. He currently works as the Mouse Genotyping Service Operator. His responsibilities include analysing high throughput Real time and Melt curve PCRs and managing the PCR set up liquid handlers (Janus robots).
Email: j.seow@garvan.org.au
Dr Seema Bhalla, Senior Scientific Services Coordinator (MGS)
Seema completed her PhD at PGIMER (Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India) in the Department of Experimental Medicine in 2008. She has extensive experience in Molecular Microbiology, Population Genetics, and Clinical Research. Seema has four years of research experience in research projects related to complex human disorders. She began working at the Garvan Molecular Genetics facility in 2009 and coordinates the Sequencing and SNP Genotyping services.
Email: s.bhalla@garvan.org.au
Dr Tadeusz Marciniec, Senior Scientific Services Coordinator (SEQ)
Tadeusz completed his PhD in chemistry at the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. He has experience in a wide range of molecular biology, biochemistry and microbiology techniques including purification and analysis of DNA, RNA and proteins, mammalian cell line culturing and the development of transgenic mice lines. He joined the Garvan Molecular Genetics facility in 2013 and currently works as deputy Sequencing Service Coordinator. He is responsible for processing customer samples for DNA sequencing analysis on the ABI 3130xl Genetic Analyzer.
Email: t.marciniec@garvan.org.au
Nicola Tait, Scientific Services Coordinator (DRES)
Nicola was awarded her Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, in 2016. She has since then worked in the UK at Q2 Solutions and joined the GMG team in August 2018. Nicola works in the Garvan Molecular Genetics Team as the Nucleic Acid Extraction Service Coordinator. She isolates DNA and RNA from a variety of tissues and fluids and oversees the extraction of DNA for the Mouse Genotyping Service.
Email: n.tait@garvan.org.au
Ceri Jennings, Scientific Services Coordinator (MGS)
Ceri completed their Bachelor of Science (Advanced) (Honours) in Chemistry and Microbiology in 2015. They worked as a Research Assistant for the Structural Biology group at The Centenary Institute before joining the GMG team at the end of 2017. They have since assisted with the general operation of the high throughput Mouse Genotyping Service. They operate the liquid handling systems (Janus Robots), program the samples for MGS operations, and communicate with clients in regards to project setup and sample throughput.
Email: c.jennings@garvan.org.au
Iskra Nicetic, Scientific Services Coordinator (MGS)
Iskra began working at Garvan Molecular Genetics at the beginning of 2020 as a Mouse Genotyping Service Operator. She has since assisted with the general operation of the high throughput Mouse Genotyping Service. She operates the liquid handling systems (Janus Robots), analyses the samples for MGS and communicates with clients.
Email: i.nicetic@garvan.org.au
Lina Tian, Scientific Services Coordinator (SEQ, MGS)
Lina completed her Bachelor of Biotechnology in 2012 in Xinjiang, China. Since then she has completed a Master of Plant Biology in 2015 in Xinjiang, China, and a Master of Medical Laboratory Science in 2019 in Melbourne at RMIT. She began working at Garvan Molecular Genetics at the beginning in August 2019 as a Mouse Genotyping Service Assistant. She assists with the general operation of the high throughput Mouse Genotyping Service and operates the liquid handling systems (Janus Robots).
Email: l.tian@garvan.org.au
Chen Feng, Scientific Services Coordinator (DRES, MGS)
Chen completed his Bachelor of Biomolecular Science at Griffith University in 2015. He completed a Master of Health Science in 2016 at the University of Western Australia and a Master of Laboratory Medicine at RMIT in 2018. He joined the GMG team in June 2018 as a Mouse Genotyping Service Assistant. He assists with the general operation of the high throughput Mouse Genotyping Service and operates the liquid handling systems (Janus Robots) and works also in the DNA extraction service for both MGS and clinical samples.
Email: c.feng@garvan.org.au
Antoni Marciniec, Casual Service Assistant (MGS)
Antoni has worked as Stunt Person and Parkour Instructor and Lab Technician before he joined the GMG team in July 2017. Currently, he assists with the general operation of the high throughput Mouse Genotyping Service and operates the liquid handling systems (Janus Robots).
Email: a.marciniec@garvan.org.au
