After graduating with magna cum lauda in cellular neurobiology, Dr Tan took up a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Bionic Ear Institute in Aug 2004, funded by the National Institutes of Health, USA, awarded to Professor Robert K Shepherd. His first post-doctoral publication showed how a group of surface receptors – TrkB and p75 neurotrophin receptors - are regulated by sensorineural hearing loss.
This work was published in 2006 in the American Journal of Pathology, ranked top journal in Pathology at that time. Dr Tan was both the first and corresponding author.
He was sought by geneticists, Professor Hamish S Scott and Dr Michel Guipponi, working then at the Walter Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, to characterise deafness in mice deficient in tmprss1, a Type 2 transmembrane serine protease gene. Characterisation of tmprss1-/- mice was subsequently published in the American Journal of Pathology where Dr Tan shared equal first authorship with Dr Michel Guipponi whereas the expression of the various tmprss genes was published in Human Mutations where Dr Tan was a co-author.
Dr Sandra Widjaja, a Swiss-trained medical doctor, began an academic exchange programme with us in 2006 to evaluate the effectiveness of the first totally implantable cochlear implant in rats. Dr Tan worked closely with her to describe how cochlear implants up-regulated the expression of plasticity-related genes and voltage-gated sodium channels in the deafened auditory cortex. This work was published in 2008 in Cerebral Cortex, a well-regarded journal in neuroscience.
In 2007, he was awarded a project grant of $269,853 from the Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation. He investigated the role of p75 neurotrophin receptor in hearing and using p75-/- mutant mice, he demonstrated that the up-regulation of this receptor in the cochlea after noise trauma is a compensatory, survival response. This work won prizes in conference presentations and was published in Hearing Research, a widely read journal within the auditory community. The publication appeared as front cover in the journal.
Besides inner ear basic biology, Dr Tan is currently researching the use of nanotechnology in inner ear drug therapy. In 2008, he co-supervised Irish ENT Dr Fergal Glynn on his Masters of Surgery dissertation, registered with the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland (RCSI). Together with Professor Frank Caruso from the University of Melbourne, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, the team developed a technique to encapsulate neurotrophic factors in nanoporous protein particles for extended release. The team was awarded an NHMRC project grant (#1005071) of $450,602 in 2010 to further investigate the therapeutic potential of these particles. Dr Tan was CI C whereas Professor Shepherd and Professor Caruso were both CI A and CI B, respectively.
In recognition of his knowledge, Dr Tan was invited by the ARC and the NHMRC to review grant applications.
In 2010, he was sought by Professor Philip Bird and Dr Dion Kaiserman from Monash University to analyse hearing pathologies in spi3 knock-out mice. This gene codes for a serine protease inhibitor. Its mutation was reported in that year to cause deafness in humans. The team was awarded an NHMRC project grant (#1019941) of $550,850 in 2011 to further investigate the role of spi3 in deafness. Dr Tan was CI B in that application.
Find out more about Justin Tan's experience
Justin Tan's highlights
FEATURED Journal article
Adjuvant agents enhance round window membrane permeability to dexamethasone and modulate basal to apical cochlear gradients
Read moreJustin Tan's selected work
A NOVEL ROLE FOR PROTEOLYSIS IN PROMOTING INNER EAR CELL INJURY AND HEARING LOSS
Research Grant
A comparison of cochlear distribution and glucocorticoid receptor activation in local and ..
Journal article
UNDERSTANDING A NOVEL MUTATION THAT CAUSES DEAFNESS
Research Grant
Improved Auditory Nerve Survival with Nanoengineered Supraparticles for Neurotrophin Deliv..
Journal article
NANOPARTICLE BASED NEUROTROPHIN DELIVERY TO PROMOTE DIRECTED NEURITE GROWTH AND AUDITORY N..
Research Grant
Drug delivery: mesoporous silica supraparticles for sustained inner-ear drug delivery (sma..
Journal article
Justin Tan's selected work
Projects
Displaying the 5 most recent projects by Justin Tan.
Project Types
5
Research Grant
Additional Information
Royal National Institute for Deaf People Flexi Grant 2009
0,000Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation Project Grant 2007 $269,853
Perpetual Trustees 2007 $30,535
Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital 2007 5,000
Medical Research and Technology in Victoria 2006 $9,900
Marion and EH Flack Trust 2005 $27,400
Medical Research and Technology in Victoria 2005 0,000
Scholarly Works
Displaying the 10 most recent scholarly works by Justin Tan.
Keyword Analysis
Honours, Awards and Fellowships
Best Poster; demonstrates a protective role of p75 neurotrophin receptor in trauma-induced hearing loss
2nd Prize Moderated Poster; demonstrates a protective role of p75 neurotrophin receptor in trauma-induced hearing loss
Travel fellowship, supporting my conference travel to ARO mid-winter meeting in Phoenix, USA
Received an investigator award
Credentials
Positions
Positions
Clinical Research Fellow
Otolaryngology
Member
Association of Research in Otolaryngology
Education
Education
PhD in Biology
Universitaet Tuebingen
Master of Neural and Behavioural Science
Universitaet Tuebingen