Professor Joanne Dickinson,
Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania 

I began my career as a cancer biologist in the Joint Oncology Program led by Professor John Kerr, a world-recognised pioneer in apoptosis research where I gained a PhD in Pathology from the University of Queensland. I later relocated to Tasmania where I trained with eminent Australian ophthalmologist Professor David Mackey in eye disease genetics and then with award winning human geneticist Professor Simon Foote, then Director of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research.  During my career I have been fortunate to work in cross-disciplinary teams including working with the Centre for Law and Genetics, University of Tasmania on ethics, the law and biobanking; with indigenous communities in the Northern Territory alongside eminent cancer epidemiologist Professor John Condon; and with leaders in wild-life ecology at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies and the Antarctic Division in Tasmania using ‘omic’ approaches as tools in ecology. My research passion is to understand how rare inherited genetic variation drives the development, progression and therapeutic response in human disease, particularly those diseases with historically poor outcomes including inherited cancers and fibrotic lung disease.