Professor Sylvia Urban

Research

Dr Urban is the research leader and founder of the Marine and Terrestrial Natural Product (MATNAP) research group in the School of Science (Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science). The research scope of the group is to explore the biodiversity of Australian marine and terrestrial organisms (eg. Plants, fungi, sponges, algae etc…) in the quest for new compounds for the purposes of drug discovery other applications. To expedite the process of discovery, various dereplication and chemical profiling strategies have become an important focus of the research.

Major research interests

• Natural product chemistry isolation and structural elucidation
• NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry for characterisation of natural products
• High Performance/Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and other chromatographic techniques for natural product purification (analysis of complex samples and extraction methodologies for natural products)
• Hyphenated spectroscopic techniques such as HPLC-NMR and HPLC-MS for natural product profiling
• Analytical/Organic chemistry and instrumental analysis for structural characterisation
• Biological evaluation of natural products (drug discovery and other applications)

Key roles and leadership

• Program Manager of the Bachelor of Science degree (2018-).
• Reconciliation Facilitator, School of Science (STEM College) (2019-).
• Chair (2023 and 2022) and Deputy Chair (2020 and 2021) of the Women Researchers’ Network (WRN)
• RACI University Ambassador for RMIT University (2022)
• Participant of the 2019 WATTLE academic program
• Participant of the VESKI-side by side program (2019)
• Women in Chemistry (WinC) committee member (2016-)

Key research positions held

• Research Fellow at Griffith University in association with AstraZeneca pharmaceuticals (1996-1998)
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand in association with PharmaMar SA (1999-2002)
• Present position is Associate Professor and leader of the MATNAP research group in the School of Science (Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science), RMIT University (2002-present)
• Current School of Science Executive member (Reconciliation Champion)

Key collaborations

Dr Urban has been a project leader of two important project activities within the Drug Discovery and Chemical Synthesis theme associated with the Victorian Institute for Chemical Sciences (VICS).

Her project activities have included being project manager of Drugs from the Marine and Terrestrial Environments and the VICS Molecular Resolution Facility (chromatography node at RMIT University). These activities formed part of an overall project entitled "The Pipeline – An Integrated Approach to Drug Design and Development" that represents an integrated approach to drug design and development and is positioned to fill a recognised gap in Victoria's drug development pipeline.

She has many collaborators both within and external to RMIT University for her natural product and chemical profiling research. These include Australian and international collaborators and include both University and industry partners.

Grants, awards and prizes

• Top STEM College Media Star 2022
• Awarded the School of Science Reconciliation Champion Award for 2021
• Awarded the School of Science Associate Dean’s Impact Award (Applied Chemistry) for 2021
• Awarded the STEM Female Educator of the Year Award in the STEM College in 2021
• Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) in 2020
• Awarded a 2019 Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning: (Citation: “Pioneering Pen-Enabled Cloud-Based Methodologies (PECM) to transform lecturing practices and deepen student learning in STEM subjects”) in the Innovation, leadership or scholarship that has influenced and enhanced learning and teaching and/or the student experience.
• Awarded Project Funding for an RMIT University Education Innovation Pitch Project (2019)
• School of Science Outreach Award (2019)
• Appointed Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) in 2018
• RMIT School of Science Award for Excellence in Teaching 2017
• RMIT University Teaching Awards 2017:
  • Widening Participation
    
  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education's Award for Good Teaching
    For innovative use of pen-enabled cloud-based methodologies to transform Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathemetics (STEM) teaching and enhance the student experience.

• SteLR Grant 2017: Pen-enabled, Real-time Student Engagement for Teaching in STEM Subjects in the School of Science
  • Symposium on Stylus Enabled and Cloud-based Tertiary Learning and Teaching in STEM Courses
• SteLR Plus Learning and Teaching Grant 2016:  Contextualizing Learning Chemistry in First Year University Programs: Engaging industry-based videos with real time quizzing
• Global Learning by Design (GLbD) Learning and Teaching Grant 2014: Contextualizing Learning in Diverse First-year Programs. RMIT Chemistry Video links:
  • The Tragedy of Thalidomide
  • The Sweet World of Carbohydrates
  • Insulin: The holy grail of diabetes treatment
  • Conotoxins: Mastery of painkilling medicines from nature
  • The Science of Making Margarine
  • The Chemistry of Pressure Cooking
  • Cisplatin: The Role of Platinum in Cancer Treatment
• Awarded the Gerald Blunden award for the best paper published in Natural Product Communications for 2011
• Research Supervision Award Nomination (2005)
• RMIT Teaching Award (nomination 2005)
• Ronald Riseborough prize in chemistry 1991
• The Roy and Iris Simmons Award (nominated 1989)

In the media

• Faculti interview November 2022 (Faculti and LinkedIn)
• The Conversation December 2 2022 There's a serious ethical problem with some sunscreen testing methods – and you're probably not aware of it Sarah Loughran and Sylvia Urban
• Take the burn out of Sunscreen Testing
• In the spotlight – Sylvia Urban
• Meet Sylvia Urban
• Improving university chemistry students engagement with OneNote, Cloud and digital inking

Patents

Munro, M. H. G; Blunt, J. W; Urban.S and Gravalos, D., "Antitumor Carbazoles, and Coproverdine Isolation" PCT Int. Appl. 2002 29 pp (Patent Number: W00248107)

More information

• LinkedIn profile
• Google Scholar
• Web of Science ResearcherID
• Scopus
• ResearchGate

Learning and Teaching

Program Manager for:

• Bachelor of Science BP229 
  

RACI accreditation team member for chemistry related programs (2017).

Course Coordinator for:

• CHEM1039: Chemistry Theory 2A 
• CHEM1053: Analytical Spectroscopy 
• CHEM1239: Chemistry for Life Sciences
• CHEM1283: Analytical Spectroscopy
  

Courses and programs currently teaching or previously taught

Years 2 and 3 Undergraduate lecture courses:

• CHEM1039: Chemistry Theory 2A 
• CHEM1053: Analytical Spectroscopy 
• CHEM1068: Chemistry Theory 3B 
• CHEM1080: Advanced Spectroscopic Analysis
• CHEM1239: Chemistry for Life Sciences 
• ONPS2188: Chemistry of Drugs and Toxins (Science elective)

Years 1, 2 and 3 Undergraduate laboratory courses:

• CHEM1030 and CHEM1031: Chemistry of Materials 1 and 2 
• CHEM1069: Chemistry Laboratory 3A (Analytical Organic Chemistry)
• CHEM1041: Chemistry Laboratory 2A (Organic Chemistry)
• CHEM1042: Chemistry Laboratory 2B (Organic Chemistry)
• CHEM1013: Chemistry Laboratory 1A (General Chemistry)
• CHEM1059: Environmental Chemistry Laboratory 2B (Organic Chemistry)
• CHEM1015: Environmental Chemistry Laboratory 1B (General Chemistry)
• CHEM1239: Chemistry for Life Sciences
• ONPS2186: Year 3 undergraduate research projects offered in the field of natural products chemistry
• ONPS2313/4: Honours course entitled Natural Product Drug Discovery: From Discovery to Drug Development
• ONPS2313/4: Honours research projects offered in the field of natural products chemistry

Undergraduate and postgraduate supervision activities

Apart from the senior demonstrator role Dr Urban has with students at all levels in the various degree programs, each year she supervises a number of third year students as well as honours students who undertake a research project within her MATNAP research group.

Research

Leader of the Marine and Terrestrial Natural Product (MATNAP) research group.

• PhD, The University of Melbourne (1997)
• Bachelor of Science (Honours), The University of Melbourne, First Class Honours (1992)
• Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Chemistry (Degree with Distinction), RMIT University (1991)

• Research Fellow appointment at Griffith University in association with AstraZeneca (1996-1998).
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow appointment at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand in association with PharmaMar SA(1999-2002). 
• Natural Product expert Consultant for Freehills Patent Attorneys (2014).
• Chemistry consulting with other Universities and industries.

Professional memberships

• Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN)
  
• American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP)
• Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI, C Chem)
• Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA)
• American Chemical Society (ACS) 
• The Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry (ANZSMS)
• The Australian and New Zealand Society for Magnetic Resonance (ANZMAG)
• Franklin Women (http://franklinwomen.com.au/)
• RMIT University Women's Research Network (WRN) steering committee (Deputy Chair, 2017-)
• RACI Women in Chemistry 
• International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 
• Association for Learning Technology (ALT)
• Chemistry Discipline Network (Chemnet)
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Facility, RMIT University (steering committee)
• Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education
  (ASCILITE)
• Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA)