Dr Shirokikh is a group leader and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the John Curtin School of Medical Research and The Shine-Dalgarno Centre for RNA Innovation, The Australian National University. He is a molecular and RNA biologist investigating mechanisms of protein biosynthesis control, especially in eukaryotic organisms, and the molecular organisation of RNA in relevance to translation. Dr Shirokikh has made discoveries in fidelity and efficiency of translation initiation, such as providing the first genome-wide evidence of ribosomal scanning. He has developed some of the most informative methods to interrogate protein biosynthesis control in vivo at a full transcriptome scale.