Rate My Professor Gavin Knott

Gavin Knott is an Associate Professor (Research) in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University, where he leads the Knott Lab within the Biomedicine Discovery Institute. He obtained his PhD in 2016 from the University of Western Australia, completing his doctoral studies in the laboratories of Professor Charlie Bond and Professor Archa Fox with a thesis focused on structural insights into DBHS protein dimerisation and nucleic acid binding. Following his PhD, he undertook postdoctoral research from 2016 to 2021 in the laboratory of Professor Jennifer Doudna at the University of California, Berkeley, where he applied structural biology approaches to investigate RNA-guided CRISPR-Cas immune systems.

Knott established his independent research group at Monash University in early 2021. His laboratory employs multidisciplinary methods spanning structural biology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and cell biology to study the molecular mechanisms of nucleic acid modification machinery, including CRISPR-Cas systems and other microbial immune systems. The research aims to advance understanding of RNA biology and enable the development of new biotechnological tools for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. He is a recipient of the Sir Keith Murdoch Fellowship from the American Australian Association (2018), the Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Boomerang Award (2019), the Lorne Protein Anders Young Investigator Award (2019), an NHMRC Investigator Grant (2020), and a Snow Fellowship. Knott has contributed to key publications on CRISPR-Cas structures, phage anti-CRISPR mechanisms, and precision genome editing tools.