AGTA - Key Persons


Dr Nic Waddell

Job Titles:
  • Medical Genomics Group Leader at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Mark Cowley - President

Job Titles:
  • President
Dr Nic Waddell is currently the Medical Genomics Group Leader at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, the Cancer Program coordinator, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. Nic was awarded her PhD in 2003 from the University of Leicester. She undertook post docs at QIMR Berghofer and UQ before establishing her research group at QIMR Berghofer. Her program of research uses bioinformatic and genomic approaches to address clinical challenges in cancer. She collaborates extensively with researchers and clinicians, and is part of Australian Genomics and Queensland Genomics.

Mark Van der Hoek - Treasurer

Job Titles:
  • Treasurer
Sandra is a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, and her research focuses on developing highly sensitive technologies for the detection of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in the blood of cancer patients. She collaborates extensively with researchers and oncologists from all over New Zealand to drive the translation of minimally invasive liquid biopsy technologies into clinical implementation.

Ruby Lin

Job Titles:
  • Immediate past Vice President

Sandra Fitzgerald

Job Titles:
  • Research Fellow at the University of Auckland
  • Vice Treasurer
Her research focus is transcriptional, post-transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of genes involved in cancer in human and mouse models. Prior to her current position she was a post-doctoral research associate at Oregon State University. Katherine completed her PhD in 2009 at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics.