Professor Emeritus Brian Morris
Professor Emeritus
Physiology, School of Medical Sciences
Bosch Institute
| Telephone | +61 2 9351 3688 |
| Fax | +61 2 9351 2227 |
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Biographical details
Brian Morris was appointed to the academic staff of the Department of Physiology in 1978 after 3 years of postdoctoral studies in the USA as a CJ Martin Fellow, then an Advanced Fellow of the American Heart Association, firstly at the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 1975-1976, then at the University of California, San Francisco, from 1976-1978. He has been a Professor since 1999. In Sep 2013 the University of Sydney Senate appointed him as Professor Emeritus.
His research has been mostly in the realm of molecular biology and molecular genetics, with a particular interest in hypertension. Other interests include longevity, diet and lifestyle, HPV detection for cervical screening (patents awarded) and the health benefits of male circumcision.
Brian Morris won the Edgeworth David Medal in 1985 from the Royal Society of New South Wales, the 2006 Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision, and a Scroll of Honour Australia Day Award for community service from The Waverley Council in 2007. In 2010 he was selected to present the prestigious Lewis K. Dahl Memorial Lecture by the American Heart Association's Council for High Blood Pressure Research at HBPR2010 in Washington, DC. In 2014 this same body selected Brian Morris as the recipient of the Irvine Page--Alva Bradley Lifetime Achievement Award. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queens Birthday Honours Awards in 2018.
Professor Morris has served the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia as a member of the Executive Committee for 3 six-year terms, being Treasurer from 2005-2010 and Editor during his 2014-2019 term. Brian Morris was a foundation member of the editorial board of Hypertension from 1979-1981, and more recently has been a board member since 2002. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Hypertension from 2003-2007.
Brian Morris has over 400 academic publications. His publications had been cited 7,759 times to the end of 2018. His H-index is 45.
Research interests
Brian Morris is involved in research in several different fields. His long-term interest has been the molecular genetics of hypertension. Most recenty this has focussed on genome-wide alterations in gene and microRNA expression in human essential hypertension and rodent models of hypertension. With Eugenie Lumbers and colleagues at University of Newcastle research focused on the expression of various components of the (pro)renin-angiotensin system and other genes in fetal and maternal tissues to determine whether these have a role in premature labour. A major current research involvement is the molecular genetics of longevity as an Honorary Consultant and Volunteer Faculty with the University of Hawaii's Department of Geriatric Medicine at Kuakini Medical Center in Honoulu. This followed a 2 month Special Studies Program there in 2012-13 and has led to multiple publications, including several as first author and author for correspondence. Brian has considerable interest and numerous publications on the molecular mechanisms of ageing, longevity and the influences of dietary factors on health. His Lab's other research has included the molecular biology of factors involved in alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs, a process that results in the generation of multiple proteins from most of the genes in the genome. Brian was the first in the world to patent the use of PCR for cervical screening (priority date Feb 1987). This test was devised to detect the cancer-causing types of human papillomavirus. In a paradigm shift in screening of women, his HPV testing strategy replace pap smears for primary screening on 1 Dec 2017, as is also happening in other countries worldwide. His cervical cancer research led him to understand that women with circumcised male partners are at lower risk of this devastating cancer. As a result, he became interested in the health and medical benefits of male circumcision (www.circinfo.net and www.circumcisionaustralia.org), a field in which he has developed a strong international reputation, with 100 of his over 400 academic publications being on this topic.
Current projects
Molecular genetics of extreme old age in humans
Renin-angiotensin system in premature labour
Alternative pre-mRNA splicing
Medical and health benefits of male circumcision
Others
Associations
Collaborators:
Bradley Willcox, Professor, and Timothy Donlon, Honorary Professor, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Kuakini Medical Center, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Eugenie Lumbers, Professor Emeritus, Mothers & Babies, John Hunter Hospital, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
Others globally.
Spokesperson: for the Circumcision Academy of Australia (http://www.circumcisionaustralia.org)
Awards and honours
• Member of the Order of Australia 2018
• The Irvine Page–Alva Bradley Lifetime Achievement Award for 2014 – American Heart Association's Council for High Blood Pressure Research – presentation at HBPR2014 in San Francisco.
• The Lewis K. Dahl Award and Lecture for 2010– American Heart Association’s Council for High Blood Pressure Research – presentation at HBPR2010 in Washington, DC.
• The Edgeworth David Medal for 1985 –from the Royal Society of New South Wales
• The 2006 Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision
• Scroll of Honour, Australia Day Award for community service, 2007 – from Waverley Council.
In the media
Over 25 TV interviews (including 3 times on '60 Minutes'), hundreds of radio interviews and reports in newspaper and online news services worldwide.
His invited article in the May 2014 issue Mayo Clinic Proceedings was the lead story on AMA Morning Rounds, Apr 2, 2014, in the USA.
Mayo Clin Proc accompanying youtube presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Oq9GONsBIk
Proceedings Editor for High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia (formerly Treasurer).
Member, Editorial Board, Hypertension (official specialist journal of the American Heart Association in the field of hypertension).
Themes
Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease; Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health; Infection and Immunological Conditions
Selected grants
2014
- CLARIOstar Multifunctional Microplate Reader for Shared Used at the Open Access, Multi-User Molecular Biology Core Facility; Huang M, Scolyer R, Fraser S, Sahni S, Speranza T, Owens T, Barrs V, Ju Y, Kovacevic Z, Lu Z, Camp A, Slobedman B, Morris B, Oliver B, Dos Remedios C, Kalinowski D, Fu D, Lai D, Lovicu F, Allbutt H, Triccas J, Burgess J, Kril J, Dixon K, Rendina L, Byrne M, King N, Groundwater P, Williamson P, Ho P, Dong Q, Bao B, Assinder S, McLennan S, Richardson D, Ammit A, Sharland A, Hardikar A, Hong A, Hambly B, Lee C, Murphy C, Goldsbury C, Johnstone D, Lane D, Hibbs D, Joshua D, Huq F, Halliday G, Sutherland G, Zreiqat H, Lok H, Lyons G, Jansson P, Black J, Zhu L, Sunde M, Day M, Naylor M, Buckland M, Murray M, Shafie N, Lay P, Poronnik P, Codd R, Mason R, Ryan R, Christopherson R, de Graaf S; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Equipment Grants.
2013
- Regulation of the placental renin-angiotensin system and placentation; Morris B, Broughton Pipkin F, Lumbers E, Roberts C; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
- QX100 Droplet Digital PCR system for Shared Used at the Open Access, Multi-User Molecular Biology Core Facility; Richardson D, Kril J, Murphy C, Vandenberg R, Rendina L, Dos Remedios C, Ju Y, Kovacevic Z, Lyons G, Sutherland G, Lay P, Ammit A, Lai D, Morris B, Day M, Dong Q, Bao B, Huang M, Camp A, Boyer M, Whittington R, Byrne M, Hanrahan J, Fu D, Jansson P, Lane D, Bagley E, Hibbs D, Zhang D, Fraser S, Scolyer R, Black J, Halliday G, Christie M, Zreiqat H, Murray M, Slobedman B, Naylor M, Burgess J, Triccas J, Mason R, Chadban S, Combes V, Lovicu F, McLennan S, Kalinowski D, Sharland A, Johnstone D, Groundwater P, Dixon K, Zhou F, Lovejoy D, Lu Z, Zhu L, Goldsbury C, Witting P, Buckland M, Assinder S, Purdie (Williams) A, Codd R, Owens T, Hambly B; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Equipment Grants.
2012
- GeneAtlas Personal Microarray System; Richardson D, Scolyer R, Stocker R, Weninger W, Black J, Allen D, Murray M, Mason R, Twigg S, King N, Horvath L, Lovicu F, Lee C, Halliday G, Lovejoy D, Joshua D, Sharland A, Roufogalis B, Hambly B, Morris B, Bao B, Bishop A, Hibbs D, Lane D, Zhou F, Hanrahan J, Dixon K, Rendina L, Byrne M, Naylor M, Cole N, Jansson P, Dong Q, Codd R, Payne R, Assinder S, Chadban S, Fraser S, McLennan S, Suryo Rahmanto A, Lai D, Yu Y, Ju Y, Buckland M, Kovacevic Z, Saletta F, Zreiqat H, Kalinowski D, Groundwater P, Simes R, Zhang D, Boyer M, Murphy C; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Equipment Grants.
2011
- PyroMark Q96 ID system; Richardson D, Stone J, Black J, King N, Mason R, Hunt N, Kril J, Murray M, Scolyer R, Halliday G, Vandenberg R, McMinn P, Chadban S, Byrne M, Ryan R, Dong Q, Lee C, Bishop A, Haass N, Fraser S, Hambly B, Sharland A, Kalinowski D, Assinder S, Yu Y, Bao B, Ju Y, Lovejoy D, Buckland M, Lane D, Dos Remedios C, Kovacevic Z, Sutherland G, Zhang D, Morris B, Suryo Rahmanto A, Murphy C; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Equipment Grants.
2009
- A new Laser Microdissection Microscope with a unique pressure catapulting technique allows isolation of pure samples for subsequent downstream molecular analyses; Halliday G, Morris B, Mason R, Murphy C, Bishop A, Leamey C, Joshua D, Lee C, Iland H, Pamphlett R, Richardson D, King N, Hunt N, Arnold J, Morris M, Protti D; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Equipment Grants.
- Neurogenic hypertension in the spontaneously hypertensive mouse: role of the hypothalamic-brainstem sympathetic axis; Head G, Davern P, Morris B; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
- Genome-wide analysis of pre-mRNA splicing regulation by RBM4; Markus A, Morris B; Cancer Australia/Priority Driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme.
2008
- The role of intrauterine (pro) renin/(pro)renin receptor system in prostaglandin synthesis in pregnancy; Lumbers E, Zakar T, Hirst J, Morris B; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
2006
- Function of a new splicing factor, RBM4; Morris B; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).
2005
- Molecular mechanism of regulation of human renin mRNA; Morris B, Leedman P; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).
2004
- Does ZNF265 influence renin expression?; Morris B; DVC Research/Research and Development Scheme: Research and Development (R&D).
2003
- RNA splicing: factors and mechanisms; Morris B, Rasko J; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).
2002
- RNA processing: factors and mechanisms; Morris B; University of Sydney/Medicine Bridging.
- RNA processing: factors and mechanisms; Morris B; DVC Research/Bridging Support Grant.
- Molecular genetics of essential hypertension; Morris B; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
2001
- TNF receptor 2 and iNOS genes in basis of cardiovascular disease; Morris B; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
2000
- Renin gene regulation; Morris B; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
- Molecular genetics of essential hypertension; Morris B, Griffiths L, Summers K; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
- Human kallikrein gene regulation; Morris B; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
- Molecular genetics of essential hypertension; Morris B; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
- Is continuously regulatable gene expression variegated?; Morris B, Martin D; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Large Research Grants (LRG).
- Fluorescence activated cell sorter; Morris B, Dos Remedios C, Mason R; Clive & Vera Ramaciotti Foundation/Awards for Biomedical Research: Major Equipment.
1999
- Functional genomics equipment; Morris B, McAvoy J; Clive & Vera Ramaciotti Foundation/Research Grants.
Selected publications
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