Dr Murcha (PhD UWA) was awarded an ARC postdoctoral fellowship in 2006 at the University of Western Australia followed by an ARC Future Fellowship in 2014 where she founded her own laboratory to understand the components and underlying processes of plant mitochondrial biogenesis. She has been a 2017 Australian Institute of Policy and Science Tall Poppy, and in 2019 awarded an Australian Society Plant Scientists Jan Anderson Award for her contributions to plant science.

Dr Murcha's research focus is to unravel the underlying mechanisms that regulate mitochondrial biogenesis such as protein targeting, assembly of oxidative phosphorylation complexes and proteolytic regulation of organelle activity. All key regulatory mechanisms governing mitochondrial activity and thus cellular activity, plant growth and responses to stress. Her laboratory utilises a range of genetic, biochemical and molecular approaches to decipher these mechanisms underlying essential cellular functions responsible for plant energy production.

Dr Murcha has attracted over $2.67 million in research funding.

2005: University of Western Australia Research Grants Scheme, $20,000.
Characterisation of novel protein transporters in Arabidopsis.
2008: ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded for 4 years, this proposal was ranked A+, in the top third of all successful fellowships. Functional characterisation of novel transport proteins in plants
2010: University of Western Australia Research Development Award, $29,000. Characterisation of the role of a stress inducible transport protein in the mitochondrial inner membrane.
2013: STINT, Swedish Foundation for International Co-operation in Research and Higher Education, $240 000. Whelan J, Murcha M, Glaser E. Systems biology approaches to study intracellular protein transport and organellar biogenesis in plants.
2013: ARC Future Fellowship, $723,320. Characterisation of the Regulators of Mitochondrial Biogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana
2015: Murcha, Soll and Drouard. ARC Discovery Project, $527,279 Modifying mitochondria: the targeting of macromolecules to alter mitochondrial function.
2015-2017: Murcha and Soll. DAAD/G08 Research Co-operation Scheme, $39,000. Characterisation of PRAT protein in mitochondria and chloroplast.

2020: Murcha, Heazlewood and Barker. ARC Discovery Project $387 372. Deciphering organelle transport mechanisms in plants 

2021: Murcha, Whelan, Zhou and Strand. ARC Discovery Project $476 000. Mitochondrial Biogenesis and Signalling in Plants  

MSCI4001-4005 School of Molecular Sciences Honours program co-ordinator

GENE2250 Principles of Inheritance, co-ordinator and lecturer.

SCIE4001 The Objective and Application of Genomics, lecturer.
BIOC4001 Advanced Studies on Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, lecturer.
GENE5001Advanced Genomic Techniques, course co-ordinator and lecturer.
BIOC3005 Cellular Biochemistry, lecturer.

GENE3350 Evolution and Development, lecturer.

WESTA/South West University Chongqing China, GENE2250, BIOC3005 lecturer

Organelle biogenesis
Protein targeting

oxidative phosphorylation

dessication tolerance
Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant molecular biology and genetics