Dr Nathan Pavlos completed his undergraduate (1999) and PhD studies (2005) at the University of Western Australia. In 2007, he was awarded a prestigious NHMRC CJ Martin (Biomedical) Overseas Research Fellowship and carried out his postdoctoral training at the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany (2007-2009, Reinhard Jahn Lab). In 2010, Dr Pavlos returned to UWA as an NHMRC Research Fellow to establish his own research laboratory.

Dr Pavlos is currently Associate Professor and Head of the Bone Biology & Disease Laboratory within the School of Biomedical Sciences. His research has been published in leading international journals including Cell, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Nature Comunications and the Journal of Bone & Mineral Research. His award-winning research regularly receives national and international attention and he has attracted more than $11 million in competitive funding as a chief investigator.  

 • Head, Bone Biology & Disease Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences

• Chair, School of Biomedical Sciences Research Committee

• Head, Tissue Repair and Regenerative Biology Research Cluster

• Graduate Research Coordinator (SBMS, SMED)

• President, Australian and New Zealand Society for Orthopaedic Research (ANZORS)

NHMRC-Ideas Grants

NHMRC-Project Grants
NHMRC-CJ Martin (Overseas) Training Fellowship
NHMRC-Equipment Grant

ARC-Linkage and LIEF Grants

Arthritis Australia

ANZBMS-Bone Health Foundation
Department of Health WA-NIRISA
Ramaciotti Establishment Grant-Perpetual Funding
Raine Foundation
The CASS Foundation
Sir Charles Gairder Group-Research Grants
UWA Research Grants Scheme

2007-2009 NHMRC CJ Martin Fellow- Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Goettingen, Germany

State Representative (WA), Australian and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology (ANZSCDB)(2013-2015)

Tresurer and Executive Council, Australian & New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society (ANZBMS) (2013-2019)

Treasurer and Executive Council, Australian & New Zealand Orthopaedic Research Society (ANZORS) (2012-2018)

Secretary, Australian & New Zealand Scoiety for Cell and Developmental Biology (ANZSCDB) (2019-2021)

Member (WG4), The GEnomics of MusculoSkeletal traits TranslatiOnal NEtwork (GEMSTONE) (2019-2022)

Sorting-Out the Skeleton: The role of intracellular trafficking in bone homeostasis and disease.

Orphan transporters in bone homeostasis and disease

IMED3003: Body Systems & Disease III (Unit Coordinator)

PATH3308-Pathology and Laboratory Medicine II (Unit Co-Coordinator) 

SURG5853: Masters of Surgery (Unit Coordinator)

PATH2210: Fundamentals of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
IMED4121: Integrated Medical Sciences

IMED4444: Integrated Medical Sciences

DENT3002: Body Systems
PODI3115: Body Systems
SMED4221 Research Foundations Unit (MD Scholarly Activity)


Supervision: Principal and co-supervisor of successfully completed Honours, Masters and PhD students.

Dr Pavlos’s current research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms of bone-resorbing osteoclasts, the major cellular protagonists underlying a number of highly debilitating musculoskeletal diseases including osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, Paget's disease and tumour-mediated bone loss. To achieve this, he combines innovative microscopy-based platforms together with high-through-put screens including integrative genomic, quantitative proteomics and phenomics to systematically decipher the core molecular machinery underlying bone resorption. Along with his focus on osteoclasts and bone biology, he also has a long-standing interest in the molecular regulation and dynamics of intracellular trafficking, a process essential for normal cellular function and is often perturbed in many different diseases including skeletal disorders, neurological disease, cancer, inflammation and pathogen invasion.