Dr Michael Widjaja
School of Life and Enviornmental Sciences
Michael is a First-Year Biology lecturer in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences. He completed his PhD at the ithree institute at the University of Technology Sydney, which investigated the players involved during a bacterial infection with human host.
Michael's science research interests lie in microbiology and teaching. He is now looking into breaking into the education research space and wants to investigate how to maximise student engagement both inside the classroom and online.
Michael’s PhD characterized a bacterium called Mycoplasma pneumoniae and looked at how it interacts with the human host on the protein level. Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a tiny "simple" bacterium that causes pneumonia in humans. He investigated which proteins (think of them as tools) does this pathogen use to infect the human epithelium and cause disease.
Michael teaches into the following units within the School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Faculty of Science) at the University of Sydney:
- BIOL1009: From Molecules to Cells and Organisms (Coordinating and Lecturing team)
- BIOL1007: From Molecules to Ecosystems (Coordinating and Lecturing team)
- BIOL1006: Life and Evolution (Lecturing team)
Science Educators Community of Practice
- First Year Biology Team
- UTS Faculty of Science Dean’s Awards 2022: ‘The Science Student Experience Improvement Award’
- UTS Faculty of Science Dean’s Awards 2022: ‘The Science ‘Initiative, Innovation and Impact’ Award’
Publications
Journals
- Widjaja, M., Kim, R., Donovan, C. (2023). Hybridized face-to-face and online laboratory content in the time of COVID-19. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. [More Information]
- Berry, I., Widjaja, M., Jarocki, V., Steele, J., Padula, M., Djordjevic, S. (2021). Protein cleavage influences surface protein presentation in Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Scientific Reports, 11(1). [More Information]
- Widjaja, M., Berry, I., Jarocki, V., Padula, M., Dumke, R., Djordjevic, S. (2020). Cell surface processing of the P1 adhesin of Mycoplasma pneumoniae identifies novel domains that bind host molecules. Scientific Reports, 10(1). [More Information]
2023
- Widjaja, M., Kim, R., Donovan, C. (2023). Hybridized face-to-face and online laboratory content in the time of COVID-19. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. [More Information]
2021
- Berry, I., Widjaja, M., Jarocki, V., Steele, J., Padula, M., Djordjevic, S. (2021). Protein cleavage influences surface protein presentation in Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Scientific Reports, 11(1). [More Information]
2020
- Widjaja, M., Berry, I., Jarocki, V., Padula, M., Dumke, R., Djordjevic, S. (2020). Cell surface processing of the P1 adhesin of Mycoplasma pneumoniae identifies novel domains that bind host molecules. Scientific Reports, 10(1). [More Information]
2019
- Jarocki, V., Steele, J., Widjaja, M., Tacchi, J., Padula, M., Djordjevic, S. (2019). Formylated N-terminal methionine is absent from the Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae proteome: Implications for translation initiation. International Journal of Medical Microbiology, 309(5), 288-298. [More Information]
2017
- Trussart, M., Yus, E., Martinez, S., Baù, D., Tahara, Y., Pengo, T., Widjaja, M., Kretschmer, S., Swoger, J., Djordjevic, S., et al (2017). Defined chromosome structure in the genome-reduced bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Nature Communications, 8. [More Information]
- Widjaja, M., Harvey, K., Hagemann, L., Berry, I., Jarocki, V., Raymond, B., Tacchi, J., Gründel, A., Steele, J., Padula, M., et al (2017). Elongation factor Tu is a multifunctional and processed moonlighting protein. Scientific Reports, 7(1). [More Information]
- Berry, I., Jarocki, V., Tacchi, J., Raymond, B., Widjaja, M., Padula, M., Djordjevic, S. (2017). N-terminomics identifies widespread endoproteolysis and novel methionine excision in a genome-reduced bacterial pathogen. Scientific Reports, 7(1). [More Information]
2016
- Tacchi, J., Raymond, B., Haynes, P., Berry, I., Widjaja, M., Bogema, D., Woolley, L., Jenkins, C., Minion, F., Padula, M., et al (2016). Post-translational processing targets functionally diverse proteins in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Open Biology, 6(2). [More Information]
2015
- Widjaja, M., Berry, I., Pont, E., Padula, M., Djordjevic, S. (2015). P40 and P90 from Mpn142 are targets of multiple processing events on the surface of mycoplasma pneumoniae. Proteomes, 3(4), 512-537. [More Information]
- Widjaja, M., Berry, I., Pont, E., Padula, M., Djordjevic, S. (2015). P40 and P90 from Mpn142 are Targets of Multiple Processing Events on the Surface of Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Proteomes, 3(4), 512-537.
- Raymond, B., Jenkins, C., Seymour, L., Tacchi, J., Widjaja, M., Jarocki, V., Deutscher, A., Turnbull, L., Whitchurch, C., Padula, M., et al (2015). Proteolytic processing of the cilium adhesin MHJ_0194 (P123
J ) in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae generates a functionally diverse array of cleavage fragments that bind multiple host molecules. Cellular Microbiology, 17(3), 425-444. [More Information]