About me
Dr Asad Prodhan is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Veterinary Medicine at Murdoch University and a molecular biologist and bioinformatician whose academic focus is on translating complex biological data into real-world, decision-ready insights for plant and animal health, biosecurity, and sustainability. His work sits at the interface of biology, computation, and applied diagnostics, with a focus on ensuring that modern genomics and microbiome science deliver practical outcomes for research, teaching, and industry.
Research
Dr Prodhan’s research spans bioinformatics, high-throughput sequencing, and data-driven biology, with applications across the life sciences and biosecurity domains. He has extensive experience developing scalable and reproducible analytical workflows for pathogen diagnostics, microbial surveillance, viral evolution, microbiome analysis, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). His work applies advanced bioinformatics, high-performance computing, and research software engineering to deliver systems-level understanding of complex biological processes, informed by long-standing engagement with industry, diagnostics, and real-world biosecurity applications.
Teaching
Dr Prodhan brings extensive teaching and supervision experience across undergraduate, Honours, MSc, and PhD levels. His teaching philosophy emphasises biology-first computational literacy, problem-based learning, and real-world relevance, equipping students with highly transferable skills aligned with modern life-science careers. Through supervision, guest lecturing, laboratory-based instruction, and hands-on workshops, he contributes to student attraction, training, and retention in data-intensive and interdisciplinary science.
Virtual Bioinformatics Core
A defining feature of Dr Prodhan’s role is his virtual bioinformatics core–style research and teaching leadership. He works collaboratively across the University to support study design, data analysis, and analytical strategy for multidisciplinary projects. By building shared computational infrastructure and reusable workflows, he strengthens analytical rigour, reproducibility, and feasibility—directly enhancing grant competitiveness and collaborative funding success.
Major Contributions
- Development of scalable bioinformatics workflows for diagnostics, microbiome research, and microbial surveillance
- Translation of complex sequencing data into actionable insights for diagnosis and biosecurity
- Development of bioinformatics platforms (sangerFlow and blastdbbuilder) widely used for sequencing analysis, database construction, research, and teaching
- Enablement of multidisciplinary research through shared computational infrastructure and high-performance computing
- Strengthening grant applications through robust, reproducible, and data-driven analytical design
Key Areas
- Bioinformatics and computational biology
- High-throughput sequencing (Illumina and Oxford Nanopore)
- Pathogen diagnostics and genomic surveillance
- Microbiome research and antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
- Viral evolution and microbial community dynamics
- High-performance computing and reproducible workflow development
- AI/ML-enabled biological data analysis
Collaboration and Impact
Collaboration is a cornerstone of Dr Prodhan’s work. As an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Veterinary Medicine at Murdoch University, he collaborates closely with colleagues across the School and the wider University on data-driven research spanning precision diagnostics, microbiome studies, viral evolution, and AMR analysis. His collaborative approach strengthens both academic delivery and research impact.