I am a Senior Research Fellow at Melbourne Bioinformatics, a high-performance computing center for life sciences at The University of Melbourne, Australia. My research focuses on applying computational techniques to biological questions, especially related to Human Genomics and Cancer. In addition to research, I am enthusiastic about education and have extensive experience teaching at the university level.
After completing a Computer Science PhD in Programming Languages, I undertook an internship at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, before returning to a lecturing position at the University of Melbourne. In 2010 I joined the newly-formed VLSCI (now Melbourne Bioinformatics), a $100M project to build a world-leading centre for bioinformatics and computational biology.
During my time at Melbourne Bioinformatics I have led a team of bioinformaticians in Cancer and Clinical Genomics, and have contributed to a wide variety of research projects.
In 2017 I was awarded a Victorian Health and Medical Research Fellowship, funded by the Victorian Government, supporting my work on the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer, in close collaboration with the Colorectal Oncogenomics Group at The University of Melbourne, headed by Assoc. Prof. Daniel Buchanan.
Selected projects
High risk genes for lobular breast cancer, with Prof. Melissa Southey.
PCR optimised sequencing for DNA-based diagnosis and discovery, leading to the development of the Hi-Plex targeted sequencing platform, with Assoc. Prof. Daniel Park.
Twin ion mass spectrometry signal detection, with Prof. Richard O'Hair.
Structure and function prediction of the human proteome, with Assoc. Prof. Aaron Jex.
The Pan Prostate Genomics Consortium, with Prof. Chris Hovens.
The Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance: I led a team of bioinformaticians and software developers building a clinical-grade genomics analysis platform and variant curation database, and co-chaired the Bioinformatics Reference Group.
Honorary Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Department of Clinical Pathology, Melbourne Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Adjunct Associate Professor (Research), Department of Medicine, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Australia
Awards
South Pacific Championship Award (coach), ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, World Finals, Stockholm, Sweden, 2009.
Excellence in Teaching Award, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Melbourne, 2008.
Australasian Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award, Best Computer Science PhD Thesis in Australia and New Zealand, awarded by the Computing Research and Education Association of Australasia (CORE), 2007.
Excellence in Tutoring Award, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Melbourne, 2005.
Gold Medal (coach), ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, World Finals, Florida, USA, 2000.
Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training - Australian Postgraduate Award, 2000-2003.
The Computer Science Department Certificate of Excellence, Artificial Intelligence, The University of Melbourne, 1996.
The Computer Science Department Certificate of Excellence, Operating Systems, The University of Melbourne, 1996.
Dean's Prize, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, 1994.
Australian Students Prize for Excellence, National recognition of outstanding achievement in secondary education, 1993.
The Sutherland Award, The Australian Institute of Physics. For outstanding achievement in the VCE, 1993.
The Victorian Premier's Award, for outstanding achievement in the VCE, 1993.
Internships
Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK. January – April 2007. Project: A breakpoint debugger for the Glasgow Haskell Compiler. Supervisor: Dr Simon Marlow.
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne. Summer break 1995-96. Project: molecular dynamics simulation of trans-membrane signalling in the Aspartate receptor of E. Coli. Supervisor: Dr Herbert Treutlein.