Dr Durek completed his doctoral training in 2004 at the Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology (Germany) where he developed semi-synthetic methods to generate and study posttranslationally modified proteins. This was followed by postdoctoral studies in Stephen Kent’s lab at The University of Chicago (US), where he worked on novel approaches and concepts to chemically access proteins and enzymes. In 2007 he moved to The Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland to work on micro-proteins derived from animal venoms and plants. His research focus is on developing new synthetic methods for peptide and protein chemical synthesis, applying these tools to structural and functional studies of bioactive peptides and exploring their potential applications as therapeutics and/or diagnostic agents.