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Jason White

Director, Research Services

Professor Jason White

Director, Research Services

Professor Jason White (PhD) was appointed Director of Research Charles Sturt University in June 2018. He was also Dean of Graduate Studies from June 2018 to July 2023. Prior to taking on his role at Charles Sturt in 2018, Jason held academic appointments at the University of Western Australia (1998-2005) and the University of Melbourne (2005-2018).

Jason’s connection to Charles Sturt University runs deep. He met his wife while doing undergraduate studies. His father graduated from Wagga Agricultural College and completed a Graduate Diploma in computer science at CSU, and his mum completed a theology degree. Both his brother and sister-in-law did teaching and his eldest daughter completed a nursing degree. Jason’s great grandfather was Edgar Hugh Graham who was Minister for Agriculture in NSW in the 40’ and 50’s. One of the most prominent things his great grandfather did (amongst others) was the establishment of Experimental Farms and a wheat research institute as centres of excellence in agricultural research. Eddie Graham always had a vision for a University that would grow from those beginnings. The quote below typifies his focus on regional Australia, its agricultural heritage and the key role he saw research playing in that; much of the sentiment rings true for CSU today. He saw the need for research that engages the community and impacts at the coal face.

“Research should be developed in the country where the farmer can have the opportunity to follow the results of that research at first hand. This is part of the scheme to improve Wagga Experimental Farm’s role in future agricultural education…The department is determined to lift the farm from the glorified commercial status into which it has fallen in the past to a position which it is supposed to hold….” Daily Advertiser 20 Feb 1948

International experience

Jason has also spent time in internationally renowned laboratories abroad, including the European Molecular Biology Laboratories (EMBL), Monterotondo (Rome), Utah State University and the University of British Columbia (Vancouver). He currently maintains an honorary research fellow position at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.

Skeletal muscle biology

Jason has published extensively in the area of skeletal muscle biology and maintains an active research career. He is recognised internationally as an expert in the cell and molecular biology of the degenerative skeletal muscle condition Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. He currently serves as the Cahir and president of Muscular Dystrophy Australia (MDA).

The MDA Mission is to provide support and hope as an organisation to the MD community whilst being recognised as the pre-eminent agency working with MD and Neuromuscular Disorders (NMD). This is culmination of a 24-year involvement with the Association. My role has included the establishment of a new Research Fellowship at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and post-graduate scholarship program. A large part of my role as Director on the MDA Board is the communication with stakeholder groups on the latest research updates. A particularly rewarding experience for Jason has been a number of rural (Gippsland, Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong, and Albury) “Research Roadshows” that he delivered for Muscular Dystrophy Australia for parents and carers of people diagnosed with muscular dystrophy.

Jason’s ongoing commitment to the discipline is reflected in his continued involvement in the peer review process. He is a current Australian Research Council (ARC) detailed assessor and serves on the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator and Ideas Grants Panels. He continues to act as a peer reviewer for a number of high-quality including the Journal of Cell Science (ranked 82 of 279 related journals in Cell Biology Field with CiteScore of 6.9). FASEB Journal (ranked 73 of 282 related journals in Biotechnology Field with CiteScore of 6.1).

National experience

Jason is active nationally in the research management sector. Representing the Australasian Research management Society (ARMS) he co-convened an ARMS-CAUL Open Research Working Group, to collaboratively develop an Open Research Toolkit to support Australian universities to implement or further develop open research policy, strategy and practice. The Toolkit was released in November 2021. The toolkit enables Universities across Australia to implement and align themselves with the current Open Research Agenda. He also currently co-convenes the Australian Research Training Network.