Dr Ipek Kurtböke
BSc METU(Ankara), PhD Liv.
Position: Senior Lecturer in Environmental Microbiology
Office: l1.12A
Tel: +61 7 5430 2819
Email: ikurtbok@usc.edu.au
Teaching areas
- Microbiology
- Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
- Food Microbiology and Fermentation
Research areas
- Biodiversity, biodiscovery and biobusiness
- Microbial ecology and systematics
- Environmental microbiology and biotechnology
- Bioactive compound discovery for pharmaceutical, food and agrobiological industries
- Exploitation of phage-host interactions for biotechnological applications including 'bacteriophage therapy'
- Bioconversion of waste and development of environmentally friendly bio-fertilizers from manure
- Biological control of crop diseases (horticultural and agricultural)
- Bioremediation and bioprocessing
- Marine microbiology
Profile
Dr Ipek Kurtböke has been working in the field of Biodiscovery since 1982. Dr Kurtböke's PhD work at the University of Liverpool, UK, in 1990 led to the development of a novel isolation technique to isolate novel bioactive compound producing bacteria, which was then adapted and applied, by many eminent pharmaceutical companies and research institutions.
After her post-doctoral studies (1990-1994) in Western Australia she was the Senior Research Scientist appointed to establish a Microbial Library for the AMRAD Discovery Technologies Pty Ltd (ADT)'s Biodiscovery Program (1995-2000). Ipek also played a key role in the development of biodiscovery programs in the ADT jointly with the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville and the Antarctic CRC at the University of Tasmania. Since joining the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2001, she has developed programs in the field of microbially derived biotechnologies in such areas as biodiscovery, bioprocessing, biodegradation and bioremediation. The work has already attracted national and international partnerships. In December 2003, Dr Kurtböke organised the 13th International Symposium on the Biology of Actinomycetes in Melbourne with the participation of 350 scientists from over the world. She was alo Executive Board member for the World Federation of Culture Collections (2000-2007).
Dr Ipek Kurtböke has given numerous lectures at different research institutes and been invited by European and Northern American Pharmaceutical companies to deliver her research findings.
Dr Ipek Kurtböke's current professional activities include:
- Biodiscovery Industry Panel member
- Editorial Board Member, Microbiology Australia, by the Australian Society of Microbiology (http://www.theasm.com.au/).
- Editorial Board Member, Marine Drugs, ISSN 1660-3397 (http://www.mdpi.org/marinedrugs/).
- Organizing Committee 10th International Symposium on the Genetics of Industrial Microorganisms, 2010, Sydney, Australia.
Her professional affiliations include:
- Australasian Plant Pathology Society (2001-)
- Australian Society of Microbiology (1990-)
- The Society for Actinomycetes Japan (1990) (http://www.nih.go.jp/saj/DigitalAtlas/)
- Society for General Microbiology (UK) (1986-)
- Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (USA) (1995-)
Publications
Electronic copies of various academic papers from Dr Ipek Kurtböke are available on the USC Coast Research Database website.
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