Dr Thimo Ruethers ~ Research Fellow Human Health & Aging; Adjunct Lecturer

Thimo is an early career researcher and science communicator with high expertise in medical sciences, protein-chemistry and clinical research, biochemical, immunological and analytical laboratory techniques, and thorough experience in leading interdisciplinary and international projects. He holds a PhD (cum laude) in Medical and Molecular Sciences from JCU (primary supervision by Prof. Andreas L. Lopata), and both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biochemistry from Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf (HHU, Germany) with specialised research training in Europe and the Asia-Pacific. His highest research expertise is in exploring food proteins and their role in allergic diseases. He is globally known for his work on fish allergy. In his pioneering PhD thesis and associated publications, he tackled this highly complex food allergy from the molecular to the global level. He has evaluated the allergenicity (ability to trigger an allergic reaction) of more than 100 fish species and other related vertebrates, unravelling the multifaceted causes of fish allergies and identifying better ways to diagnose and manage this potentially deadly immune disease, which afflicts millions globally.

His primary research activities focus on molecular interactions between food and humans with an emphasis on the immune system. Aiming for translational collaborative research excellence, he is always interested in hearing from students keen on HDR projects, academics, companies and other stakeholders. Overall and foremost, Thimo seeks to help overcome challenges in securing humanity's (alternative) food protein needs under careful consideration of food safety, allergic diseases and planetary health.

Thimo is a Research Fellow at the Tropical Futures Institute (TFI, JCU, Singapore) and The Bioinformatics Institute (BII, A*STAR, Singapore). He is Adjunct to JCU’s College of Public Health, Medical & Veterinary Sciences (CPHMVS), Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM), Centre for Molecular Therapeutics (CMT), Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology (CTBMB), and Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA). He is also a member of the Singapore Society for Mass Spectrometry (SMSS), Australia’s National Allergy Centre of Excellence Food Stream Advisory Group (NACE, only overseas member); Centre for Food Allergy Research (CFAR, first international scholar), a Centre of Research Excellence by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC);the World Allergy Organization (WAO), Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (APAAACI), Asia Pacific Association of Pediatric Allergy, Respirology and Immunology (APAPARI), European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI), Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA), Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA), and inVIVO Planetary Health Network (inVIVO).

Media and Stories

• Sep 2023: Are allergy skin prick tests unreliable?
• Sep 2023: Allergy skin prick tests can give unreliable results
• Sep 2023: A deeper dive into shellfish allergy diagnosis
• Aug 2023: Laboratory trials unveil risk of false results in allergy tests
• May 2023: Vetting alternative menus for food allergy sufferers
• May 2023: Crocodile meat can be a dangerous alternative for people allergic to fish
• Oct 2022: Food Innovations and Health Aspects
• Sep 2021: Tackling Allergies to Fish and other Potential Culprits
• Oct 2020: Fish allergies and sustainability
• Sep 2020: New fish allergy triggers found
• Aug 2020: Fish allergy: collagen often overlooked as an important allergen
• May 2020: Food tests could put Aussie lives at risk
• Dec 2019: Unlabelled allergens rife in imported food
• Sep 2019: Hooked on Fish Allergies
• May 2019: The deadly danger of crocs on the plate
• Apr 2019: Seafood allergy skin prick tests 'unreliable'
• Apr 2019: Fishy diagnostics for food allergy testing
• Jan 2019: Ray of hope for fish allergy sufferers

Interests

Professional

• Science Communication
• Planetary Health

Research

• Proteomics - Allergology – Immunology - Molecular medicine
• Food allergies - Seafood allergies - Allergy Diagnostics and Management
• Food safety - Sustainable food security

Teaching

• Training the next generation of scientists through translational collaborative research excellence

Experience

• 2022 to present - Research Fellow, The Bioinformatics Institute, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, (Singapore)
• 2021 to present - Research Fellow, Tropical Futures Institute, JCU (Singapore)
• 2020 to present - Adjunct Lecturer, College for Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, JCU (Townsville)
• 2015 to 2020 - Casual Academic and Research Worker, College for Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, JCU (Townsville)
• 2010 to 2015 - Presenter, Plant for the Planet (Worldwide)

Research Disciplines

• Immunology (3204)
• Food sciences (3006)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Clinical health (2001)
• Expanding knowledge (2801)

Awards

• 2022 - Singapore Food Story R&D grant on food safety, science and innovation with A*STAR and NTU (1,774,800 SGD)
• 2022 - Alternative protein research grant, Good Food Institute (~128,000 SGD)
• 2022 - Allergy award (best presentation), Annual Conference, ASCIA
• 2021 - Best poster award during International Congress of 50th Anniversary of KAAACI
• 2021 - Winner 3MT competition, James Cook University Singapore, staff category
• 2021 - Seal of Excellence for first-class innovative idea, European Commission
• 2021 - Best oral presentation at APAAACI International Conference
• 2021 - Special JCU-S infrastructure grants (35,450 SGD)
• 2020 - Research grant, CMT (3,000 SGD)
• 2020 - Best PhD thesis, CSTFA
• 2020 - Doctoral publication grant, JCU (3,000 SGD)
• 2019 - National Famelab Finalist - live science communication competition by the British Council
• 2019 - Congress travel grant, EAACI (~2,200 SGD)
• 2019 - Best oral presentation in the session during the Annual Congress, EAACI
• 2019 - Allergy school travel grant, EAACI (~420 SGD)
• 2019 - Travel grant, Robert Logan Memorial Bursary (2,750 SGD)
• 2019 - Congress travel grant, APAPARI (~1,000 SGD)
• 2018 - Best postgraduate student poster, Research Festival, JCU
• 2018 - Publication grant, JCU (3,000 SGD)
• 2018 - Congress travel grant, APAAACI (1,030 SGD)
• 2018 - Travel grants, ASI, CFAR (5,000 SGD)
• 2018 - Winner ‘My Research Rules’ Oral Competition, Research Festival, JCU
• 2018 - Queensland’s fastest in tip racking, Interpath Services
• 2017 - Winner 'My Research in 8 Minutes', Scientific Retreat, CMT
• 2017 - Travel grant, JCU (3,000 SGD)
• 2017 - Winner ‘So you think you can research’ Competition, Research Festival, JCU
• 2017 - Best oral presentation in the session during the Annual Congress, EAACI
• 2016 - Travel grants, CFAR, JCU (3,025 SGD)
• 2016 - Runner up ‘My Thesis in 3 Minutes’, Scientific Retreat, CBMDT
• 2016 - People’s Choice Award Reperio - Innovation Pitching competition
• 2016 - Allergy award (best presentation), Annual Conference, ASCIA
• 2016 - Poster and oral presentation awards, Student Conference, JCU
• 2014 - Research grant, Wolters-Vollhardt-Foundation, Germany (~3,200 SGD)
• 2014 - Travel grant for Life Sciences, Wolters-Vollhardt-Foundation Germany (~4,680 SGD)

Fellowships

• 2015 to 2019 - Full-time postgraduate scholarship, CFAR (87,500 SGD)

Memberships

• Centre for Food Allergy Research (CFAR, first international scholar), a Centre of Research Excellence by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
• Australia’s National Allergy Centre of Excellence Food Stream Advisory Group (NACE, only overseas member)
• Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA)
• Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI)
• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI)
• European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI)
• Asia Pacific Association of Pediatric Allergy, Respirology and Immunology (APAPARI)
• Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (APAAACI)
• Singapore Society for Mass Spectrometry (SMSS)
• inVIVO Planetary Health Network (inVIVO)
• World Allergy Organization (WAO)
• Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU.

Journal Articles

• Nugraha R, Ruethers T, Taki A, Johnston E, Karnaneedi S, Kamath S and Lopata A (2022) Recombinant Tropomyosin from the Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) for Better Diagnosis. Foods, 11 (3).
• Ruethers T, Nugraha R, Taki A, O'Malley A, Karnaneedi S, Zhang S, Kapingidza A, Mehr S, Kamath S, Chruszcz M, Mackay G, Campbell D and Lopata A (2022) The first reptilian allergen and major allergen for fish-allergic patients: Crocodile ?-parvalbumin. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, 33 (5).
• Heidelberg C, Bang B, Thomassen M, Kamath S, Ruethers T, Lopata A, Madsen A, Sandsund M and Aasmoe L (2021) Exposure to Bioaerosols during Fish Processing on Board Norwegian Fishing Trawlers. Annals of Work Exposures and Health, 65 (6). pp. 694-702
• Karnaneedi S, Huerlimann R, Johnston E, Nugraha R, Ruethers T, Taki A, Kamath S, Wade N, Jerry D and Lopata A (2021) Novel allergen discovery through comprehensive de novo transcriptomic analyses of five shrimp species. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22 (1).
• Nugraha R, Ruethers T, Johnston E, Rolland J, O’hehir R, Kamath S and Lopata A (2021) Effects of extraction buffer on the solubility and immunoreactivity of the pacific oyster allergens. Foods, 10 (2).
• Ruethers T, Taki A, Karnaneedi S, Nie S, Kalic T, Dai D, Daduang S, Leeming M, Williamson N, Breiteneder H, Mehr S, Kamath S, Campbell D and Lopata A (2021) Expanding the allergen repertoire of salmon and catfish. Allergy, 76 (5). pp. 1443-1453
• Sharp M, Taki A, Ruethers T, Stephen J, Daly N, Lopata A and Kamath S (2021) IgE and IgG4 epitopes revealed on the major fish allergen Lat c 1. Molecular Immunology, 131. pp. 155-163
• Kalic T, Kamath S, Ruethers T, Taki A, Nugraha R, Le T, Humeniuk P, Williamson N, Hira D, Rolland J, O'Hehir R, Dai D, Campbell D, Breiteneder H and Lopata A (2020) Collagen-an important fish allergen for improved diagnosis. Journal Of Allergy And Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 8 (9). pp. 3084-3092
• Ruethers T, Taki A, Khangurha J, Roberts J, Buddhadasa S, Clarke D, Hedges C, Campbell D, Kamath S, Lopata A and Koeberl M (2020) Commercial fish ELISA kits have a limited capacity to detect different fish species and their products. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 100 (12). pp. 4353-4363
• Sheridan M, Koeberl M, Hedges C, Biros E, Ruethers T, Clarke D, Buddhadasa S, Kamath S and Lopata A (2020) Undeclared allergens in imported packaged food for retail in Australia. Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A, 37 (2). pp. 183-192
• Kalic T, Effinger I, Kamath S, Palladino C, Mayr V, Tscheppe A, Ruethers T, Waltl E, Niederberger V, Lengger N, Radauer C, Hafner C, Lopata A, Bublin M and Breiteneder H (2019) Fish-derived low molecular weight components modify bronchial epithelial barrier properties and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Molecular Immunology, 112. pp. 140-150
• Kalic T, Morel-Codreanu F, Radauer C, Ruethers T, Taki A, Swoboda I, Higer C, Hoffmann-Sommergruber K, Ollert M, Hafner C, Lopata A, Morisset M, Breiteneder H and Kuehn A (2019) Patients allergic to fish tolerate ray based on the low allergenicity of its parvalbumin. Journal Of Allergy And Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 7 (2). pp. 500-508

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 19+ research outputs authored by Dr Thimo Ruethers from 2016 onwards.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Understanding Protein differences to make Healthier and Safer Seafood (Masters , Secondary Advisor)
• Allergen profiles in Asian and American prawns for the development of improved diagnosis and immunotherapy (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.