Professor Kathryn North is Director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the David Danks Professor of Child Health Research at the University of Melbourne.
She is trained as a physician, neurologist and clinical geneticist and, in 1994, was awarded a doctorate for research in neurogenetics. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Harvard Genetics Program.
Professor North is a national and international leader in genomic medicine. In 2014, she was appointed as Co-Chair of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health – a collaborative network of 500 organisations across 45 countries funded by the NIH and the Wellcome Trust (ga4gh.org).
Commencing in 2016, she leads an NHMRC-funded national network of more than 70 institutions – the Australian Genomics Health Alliance. The goal of Australian Genomicsis to provide evidence and practical strategies for the implementation of genomic medicine in the health system.
Professor North has received a number of awards, including the GSK Australia Award for Research Excellence (2011), the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research (2012) and Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to medicine in the field of neuromuscular and neurogenetics research (2012).
In 2012, she was appointed Chair of the NHMRC Research Committee, and in 2014 was appointed as a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
She chairs the International Advisory Board of the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UK) and is a member of the Board of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
[January 2018]