Dr Tim Couttas

Dr Tim Couttas is bioanalytical chemist, specialising in lipid biochemistry related to mental health and neurodegenerative diseases. Tim completed his PhD at the University of New South Wales, where he developed selective immonium ion scanning mass spectrometry to identify novel methylated lysine residues. His work contributed to the construction of the first methyllysine interactome in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as part of the ARC-funded NSW Systems Biology Initiative.

In 2013, Tim joined the Prince of Wales Clinical School to investigate lipid imbalances in Alzheimer's disease. He was awarded an NHMRC-ARC Dementia Research Development Fellowship in 2015 to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying demyelination in Alzheimer’s disease, leading to the discovery of reduced de novo ceramide synthesis as an early pathogenic event.

In 2020, Tim moved to the Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, to lead research into lipid-metabolic dysfunction in psychiatric conditions, with a focus on lipids as theragnostic markers in clinical trials. Since 2024, Tim has been based at NeuRA, collaborating with the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health and the Minderoo Foundation to investigate region-specific exposure to plastic-derived compounds and their neurodegenerative risks. He also heads the Molecular Precision Mental Health Node at the Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney.