Dr Archa Fox

Dr Archa Fox is a senior lecturer and leading researcher in UWA’s School of Human Sciences and Molecular Sciences. Her research in molecular cell biology centres on her 2002 discovery of a new cellular structure, nuclear bodies called paraspeckles. These structures are important in controlling gene expression inside our cells, which malfunction when people develop cancer and other diseases. New treatments can be found for disease by understanding how cells use paraspeckles to regulate the genes they express.

Dr Fox studied her Bachelor of Science at the University of New South Wales, majoring in molecular genetics. She went on to study her PhD at the University of Sydney and carried out her postdoctoral research in Dundee, Scotland. There she learnt to combine cell biology and microscopy with molecular biology.

The discovery of paraspeckles has led to further significant research. In 2009 she described the first long noncoding RNA, NEAT1, that scaffolds a nuclear body. In 2015, she showed how paraspeckles are built depending on intrinsically disordered regions of proteins.

Her current research group investigates the paraspeckle as a model system for understanding gene regulation, specifically the role of long noncoding RNAs and protein aggregation. The team works collaboratively with other scientists to study both paraspeckle structure and function.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students benefit from Dr Fox's enthusiasm for molecular cell biology. She uses her passion for the topics she teaches to inspire students in their learning.