Alex completed his undergraduate and PhD studies at The University of Melbourne, in the research group of Diana Stojanovski. His prior research interrogated cell-type specific mitochondrial activity, its basis in protein trafficking, and how it leads to neurodegenerative mitochondrial disease. He is currently investigating the importance of metabolism in the progression of brain development, using cerebral organoid models. Employing a combination of -omics, biochemical and imaging techniques, Alex aims to characterise evolutionary differences in metabolism and how these may influence the tempo of neural development.