Associate Professor Travis Johnson
Group leaderCell signalling, rare metabolic disease, and preclinical therapeutic discovery
Associate Professor Travis Johnson is a geneticist and cell and developmental biologist whose research seeks to understand the molecular basis of rare inherited metabolic diseases and translate these discoveries into new therapies. After completing his PhD in Genetics at Monash University in 2010, he established an internationally recognised research program investigating how cell signalling and protein trafficking regulate development and disease. His laboratory now combines functional genomics, developmental biology, metabolism and physiology to uncover disease mechanisms and develop precision nutrition and drug repurposing therapies for childhood dementias, inherited metabolic disorders, and other severe genetic conditions that impact children.
Travis leads the Cell Signalling and Rare Metabolic Disorders Group at La Trobe University and has held prestigious ARC DECRA and Future Fellowships. His research integrates multiple model organisms, including fruit flies, zebrafish, and mice, with high-throughput compound and dietary screening, AI-assisted phenotypic analysis and innovative experimental technologies to rapidly move from gene discovery to preclinical therapeutic candidates. He is passionate about building new research tools and collaborative pipelines that accelerate rare disease research and bring practical treatment opportunities closer to patients and their families.
