Faculty of Science

I am currently the Associate Dean (Research, Honours & Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Science.

Prior to taking on this position, I was the acting Head, School of Community Health. I come from a biomedical science background, and have undertaken extensive course management/co-ordination duties in health courses (Bachelor of Health & Rehabilitation Science) at the undergraduate level, and am now managing research higher degrees in the Faculty of Science.

I undertook my undergraduate degree and PhD at the University of Western Australia, before completing post-doctoral research positions at the University of Western Australia (1999-2001), Stanford University (2001-2003) and CSU (2003-2005), in understanding the cellular and biochemical mechanisms underlying muscle degeneration in muscular dystrophies. I commenced my first permanent academic appointment as a Lecturer at CSU in 2005.

I am based on the Albury campus of CSU.

Teaching

I came to CSU as a Lecturer in Anatomy and Physiology in the School of Community Health.

I led the establishment of a head and neck anatomy subject in full distance education mode in the Speech Pathology program, and taught a broad range of subjects in anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology and pharmacology. I have also made significant contributions to course management, running the Health and Rehabilitation Science course from 2009-2012, including it’s establishment on the Albury and Port Macquarie campuses, and developing the full-time distance education mode study program.

Since commencing as the Associate Dean (Research, Honours & Graduate Studies), I have developed workshops for Higher Degree by Research students on topics such as dealing with peer review/criticism in research, and I have run induction sessions and development sessions via the Research Office in the examination process, and global trends in research.

Research

My main research interests are in understanding the mechanisms underlying muscle degeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This is a prevalent degenerative disease of muscle that is usually lethal in the 20’s-30’s.

My research focuses in identifying biochemical and cellular mechanisms that contribute to muscle weakness and breakdown, including signal transduction pathways and compromised cellular stress responses, and targeting those mechanisms pharmacologically to alleviate loss of muscle mass and function.

Professional Bodies

• Member - World Muscle Society (2009-present)
• Member - Australian & New Zealand Society for Cell & Developmental Biology Inc (2003-present)

Peer Review

• Peer reviewer - (papers) I receive regular invitations to review journal articles for international journals e.g. American Journal of Pathology, Cell and Tissue Research, Muscle & Nerve and Journal of Cell Science.
• Peer reviewer - (grants) I review grant applications for Australian (ARC, NHMRC) and International (Qatar National Research Foundation and Telethon Italy) funding bodies.

Publications

My updated publication lists are available at the links below

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=smythe+gm

http://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/R/LLQVNT6GCIFJAL26V7JQI3UA4SKJ78213NHN1D28KXQI3R5DXA-00132