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Qualifications
 
Research experience
- 2020-: Senior Research Fellow, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences; Team Leader, Australian Centre for Ecogenomics; Affiliate Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland
 
- 2013-2019: Senior Research Officer Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, since Jul 2013
 Microbial genomics and evolution, scalable phylogenomics, Symbiodinium genomics
- 2013-16: GBRF Bioinformatics Fellow Institute for Molecular Bioscience, and ARC Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics, The University of Queensland, since Jul 2013
 Genome sequencing of coral symbiont, Symbiodinium
- 2011-13: Research Officer, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, and ARC Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics, The University of Queensland, Nov 2011 – Jun 2013
 The role of lateral genetic transfer in microbial evolution
- 2009-11: Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, and Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Jul 2009 – Oct 2011
 Plastid origin and evolution, evolutionary biology of microbial eukaryotes and red algal genomics.
- 2008-09: Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Department of Biology, The University of Iowa, Apr 2008 – Jun 2009
 Molecular evolution of microbial eukaryotes.
- 2007-08: Postdoctoral Research Officer, ARC Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics, The University of Queensland, Oct 2007 – Apr 2008
 Units of genetic transfer in prokaryotes, within single- and multi-copy gene families.
- 2003-07: Ph.D. project, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Jul 2003 – Sep 2007
 Detecting recombination in biological sequences; units of genetic transfer among microbial genomes.
- 2003: Research assistant, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Apr-Jun
 RNA extraction from protoplast; protoplast culture of red seaweed.
- 2001-03: M.Phil. Project, Institute of Postgraduate Studies, University of Malaya
 Functional genomic study of the red seaweed Gracilaria changii using expressed sequence tag approach.
- 2001: Research Assistant, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, Jul-Dec
 Extraction of RNA from seaweeds; sampling of seaweeds in Morib, Port Dickson and Langkawi; maintenance of the University of Malaya seaweed herbarium.
- 2000/01: Honours Project, Biology Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
 Biochemical study on enzymatic reactions in alkalophilic bacteria; bacterial genomic DNA extraction.
- 2000: Intern, Bacteriology Division, Institute for Medical Research Malaysia, Apr-Jun
 Medical bacteriology and mycology: diagnosis of pertussis, tuberculosis, Salmonella and Shigella, melioidoisis and Ricketsial disease; computational data management of WHONet.
- 2000: Research Assistant, Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Apr-Jun
 Gene cloning and transformation in bacteria for enhancing biotechnological potential of a gene coding for hemicellulose-degrading enzyme.
 
Research & academic mentorship
- Katherine Dougan
 University of Queensland, Postdoc, Jan 2020-present
- Yibi Chen
 University of Queensland, PhD candidate, Aug 2019-present
- Sarah Shah
 University of Queensland, PhD candidate, Apr 2019-present
- Pierre Youssef
 University of Queensland, MBioinf final research project, Feb-Nov 2019
- Yibi Chen
 University of Queensland, MBioinf final research project, Nov 2018-Jul 2019
 Output: J Phycol 2019 online 12 Nov 2019
- Christopher Wrona
 University of Queensland, research intern, Feb-Dec 2018
- Clarisse Louvard
 University of Queensland, student researcher, Jul 2017-present
- Raúl González Pech
 University of Queensland, PhD candidate, Jan 2016-Oct 2019
 Output: bioRxiv 2017 198762; Sci Rep 2017 7:15021; Commun Biol 2018 1:95; Bioinformatics 2018 bty1018
- Timothy Stephens
 University of Queensland, PhD candidate, Jan 2016-Jul 2019
 Output: PeerJ 2016 4:e2038; bioRxiv 2017 198762; Mol Biol Evol 2018 35:1869-86; Commun Biol 2018 1:95; Sci Rep 2018 8:17175; Bioinformatics 2018 bty1018
- Rémi Lagorce
 Polytech Nice-Sophia, France, research intern, Jun 2018-Sep 2018
- Jessica Dalton-Morgan
 University of Queensland, student researcher, Dec 2017-Jul 2018
- Guillaume Bernard
 University of Queensland, PhD candidate, Oct 2013-Apr 2017
 Output: RNA Biol 2014 11:176-185; Sci Rep 2014 4:6504; Sci Rep 2016 6:28970; bioRxiv 2017 125237; Brief Bioinfo 2017 bbx067; mSystems 2018 3:e00257-18
- Isabela Galvão de Lossio e Seiblitz
 University of Queensland, undergraduate, Science Without Borders (Ciência Sem Fronteiras) Program, Brazil, Aug 2015-Feb 2016
- Timothy Stephens
 University of Queensland, Honours student, Feb-Nov 2015
 Output: Eur J Phycol 2015 50(S1):57-8; PSA 2015 Proceedings p57; PeerJ PrePrints 3:e1609v1
- Shelley Barfoot
 University of Queensland, undergraduate, Advanced Study Program in Science (ASPinS), Mar-Oct 2015
- Eman Ahmed M Alzahrani
 University of Queensland, Masters student, Nov 2014-Feb 2015
- Benjamin Chalmers
 University of Queensland, undergraduate, Advanced Study Program in Science (ASPinS), Jan-Nov 2014
 Output: Eur J Phycol 2015 50(S1):150
- Anne Senabouth
 University of Queensland, Summer Research Program, Oct-Dec 2012
- Hung Viet Nguyen
 University of Queensland, Honours student, Feb-Oct 2012
- Guillaume Bernard
 Université Bordeaux 1, Masters Program Internship, Mar-Sep 2012
- Maisarah Mahbob
 University of Queensland, Summer Student Research Program, Nov 2011-Jan 2012
 Output: BMC Bioinformatics 2013 14:120
- Shraddha Desai
 Rutgers University, NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) Program, Jun-Oct 2011
- Titas Banerjee
 Rutgers University, NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) Program, Jun-Aug 2010
 Output: Curr Biol 2011 21:328-33
- Christina Jenkins, Francesca Baglivi, John Vaubel
 University of Iowa, Mini-project for Molecular Phylogenetics (graduate course), Apr-Jul 2009
 Output: Mobile Genetic Elements 2013 3:e27313
- Callan Gavaghan (Grace Lutheran College, Rothwell) and
 Liam Nolan (Marist College, Ashgrove), QLD Australia
 CSIRO Student Research Scheme, Sep 2006
- Meilin Godenzi (MacGregor State High, MacGregor) and
 Stacey Llewellyn (Christian Outreach College, Carindale), QLD Australia
 CSIRO Student Research Scheme, Sep 2005
 
Professional services
- Associate Faculty Member, F1000 Prime (Genomics & Genetics, Bioinformatics)
- Associate Editor (2018-), BMC Genomics
- Editorial Board Member (elected; term 2016-2018; 2019-2021), Journal of Phycology
- Review Editor:
- Expert reviewer for grant proposals:
- Manuscript reviewer (journal):
- 
- Algal Research
- Aquatic Invasions
- Bioinformatics
- BMC Bioinformatics
- BMC Genomics
- BMC Research Notes
- Briefings in Bioinformatics
- European Journal of Phycology
- Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
- Frontiers in Marine Science
- Frontiers in Microbiology
- Gene
- Genome Biology
- Genome Biology and Evolution
- Harmful Algae
- IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences
- The ISME Journal
- Journal of Applied Phycology
- Journal of Molecular Evolution
- Journal of Phycology
- Marine Biology
- Marine Biotechnology
- Marine Drugs
- mBio
- Molecular Biology and Evolution
- Molecular Ecology
- Molecular Ecology Resources
- Nature Communications
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
- Phycologia
- Phycological Research
- The Plant Journal
- Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
- PLoS Genetics
- PLoS ONE
- Scientific Reports
- Trends in Genetics
- Trends in Microbiology
- Virulence
 
 
- Manuscript reviewer (conference):
- International Conference on Genome Informatics (GIW)
- IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM)
 
- Webmaster, Wiki-site and internal data portal (user-interactive) for the Research Co-ordination Network of the Porphyra Genome Project
- Webmaster, University of Malaya Algal Research Laboratory
 
Memberships
- Phycological Society of America
- Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
- International Society for Computational Biology
- Genetics Society of AustralAsia
- Golden Key National Honour Society
Research funding
- 2019-2021: ARC Discovery Projects Grant DP190102474
 Genomics and evolution of symbiont transmission in coral reefs
 Australian Research Council
 Chief Investigator: Chan CX
 Partner Investigator: Bhattacharya D
- 2015-2018: ARC Discovery Projects Grant DP150101875
 Symbiodinium: the evolutionary transition to coral reef symbiont
 Australian Research Council
 Chief Investigators: Ragan MA, Chan CX
 Partner Investigator: Bhattacharya D
- 2015-2018: ARC Discovery Projects Grant DP150100705
 Genome dynamics following plastid endosymbiosis
 Australian Research Council
 Chief Investigators: Verbruggen H, Chan CX
 Partner Investigators: Bhattacharya D, Olson B
- 2014: UQ Early Career Researcher Grant ECR086
 Host-specific adaptive evolution of the coral reef symbiont Symbiodinium
 The University of Queensland
 Chief Investigator: Chan CX
- 2013: University of Malaya Research Grant RG205-13SUS
 The use of phylogenomics to understand evolution and environmental adaptation of Chlorella isolates from different latitudes
 University of Malaya
 Chief Investigator: Lim PE
 Partner Investigators: Chan CX, Phang SM, Ragan MA
- 2002: Vote F Postgraduate Research Grant F0131/2002A
 Generation of expressed sequence tags of the red seaweed Gracilaria changii
 Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, Malaysia
 Chief Investigator: Chan CX
 
Mobility funding
- 2018-2019: UQ-UNESP Academic Exchange
 University of Queensland (UQ) and São Paulo State University (UNESP)
 Chief Investigator: Chan CX
- 2018-2019: UQ-FAPESP Strategic Research Fund SPRINT 2018/15159-9
 Integrated genomic approaches to understand stress tolerance in bioethanol‐producing yeasts and coral reef symbionts
 University of Queensland (UQ) and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
 Chief Investigators: Chan CX (UQ), Gross J (UNESP)
 
Infrastructure allocations
- 2020: National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS) – 1,600,000 CPU core hours
 Lead Chief Investigator
- 2019: National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS) – 1,200,000 CPU core hours
 Lead Chief Investigator
- 2018: National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS) – 1,400,000 CPU core hours
 Lead Chief Investigator
- 2017: National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS) – 1,100,000 CPU core hours
 Chief Investigator
- 2016: National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS) – 940,000 CPU core hours
 Chief Investigator
- 2015: National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS) – 900,000 CPU core hours
 Chief Investigator
 
Successful Fellowships
- 2013-2016: GBRF Bioinformatics Fellowship, Great Barrier Reef Foundation (awarded to Mark Ragan)
- 2001-2002: PASCA Postgraduate Fellowship, Ministry of Science, Tehchnology and the Environments, Malaysia
Teaching and Learning (T&L) Funding
- 2016: UQ Faculty of Science Teaching and Learning Grant
 Building and supporting coordinated streams for educating bioinformatics “users” and “developers”
 Leaders: Bodén M, Chan CX
 
Awards or Honours
- 2019: Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland
- 2018: Dean’s Commendation for Excellent Teaching, Faculty of Science, University of Queensland
- 2017: Top Reviewers of the University of Queensland (General; and Agricultural and Biological Sciences), Publons
- 2016: Sentinel of Science (Agricultural and Biological Sciences), Publons
- 2014, 2015, 2016: Teaching Fellow, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland
- 2013: ResTeach Fellow, The University of Queensland
- 2013: Poster Prize, The UTas Theoretical Phylogenetics Meeting (Phylomania), Hobart
- 2012: Best Poster Award, BioInfoSummer, AMSI Summer Symposium in Bioinformatics, Adelaide
- 2009: SMBE Postdoctoral Travel Award, 13th SMBE Annual Meeting, Iowa City
- 2008: Student Bursary Scholarship, 19th International Conference on Genome Informatics (GIW), Gold Coast
- 2007: SMBE Graduate Travel Award, 11th SMBE Annual Meeting, Halifax
- 2004: Travel Scholarship Award, BioInfoSummer, ICE-EM Summer Symposium in Bioinformatics, Canberra
- 2004: ISCB Travel Fellowship Award, International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB), Glasgow
- 2003: International Postgraduate Research Scholarship Award, Commonwealth Government of Australia and the University of Queensland
- 2002: Travel Grant Award, 2nd International Conference on Structural Biology and Functional Genomics, Singapore
- 2001: PASCA Postgraduate Fellowship Award, Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, Malaysia
- 2001: Outstanding Student Award, Malaysian Senators Club
- 2001: The Royal Academic Award, Malaysian Conference of Rulers