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  • SAGHA team

    Associate Professor Sonia Shah

    National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow
    National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow, Senior Principal Research Fellow –Group Leader
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Researcher biography: 

    My group's research uses large-scale genomic data to address knowledge gaps in disease, with a particular focus on cardiovascular disease.

    Research programme

    1. Cardiovascular disease research using big-data and genomics: with the goal of improving prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. By focusing on underrepresented groups, including women, my research aims to also address inequity in cardiovascular outcomes. I am the lead of the South Asian Genes and Health in Australia (SAGHA) study, which aims to increase representation of Australian South Asians in cardiovascular and genomics research. See saghaus.org for further details.

    2. Drug genomics: I'm interested in using genomic approaches to predict drug effects, including identification of drug repurposing opportunities as well as identifying unknown adverse effects of medication.

    3. Liver transplant research: In this collaboration with the QLD Liver Transplant Unit, we are using genomics to understand the effect of normo-thermic perfusion (a new organ storage method) on liver function, with the long-term goal of improving our ability to predict transplant outcomes.

    Career summary: I was awarded my PhD from University College London (UK) in cardiovascular genetics. I began my post-doctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Prof Peter Visscher at the Queensland Brain Institute in 2013. Between 2016-2018, I was the lead analyst for the International Heart Failure Genetics Consortium (HERMES). In 2018, I was awarded an NHMRC Early Career Researcher Fellowship to investigate the relationship between cardiovascular and brain-related disorders using large-scale genetic and genomic data, under the mentorship of Prof Naomi Wray. I currently hold a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship.

    Recognition:

    2024 Australian Academy of Science Ruth Stephens Gani Medal for outstanding contribution to genetics research

    2023 1 of 5 global finalists for the Nature Inspiring Women in Science (Scientific Achievement Award)

    2023 Lifesciences QLD Rose-Anne Kelso Award

    2023: Named in Australia's Top 25 Women in Science by Newscorp

    2022 Queensland Young Tall Poppy Award

    2022 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award

    2021/2022 Australian Superstar of STEM,

    2020 Genetic Society of Australasia Early Career Award

    2020 Women in Technology Rising Star Science Award

  • Q&A with Montanna Wright, IMB Business Trainee
  • Page to store and retrieve announcements for ppms Control Panel
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    The Institute for Molecular Bioscience
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The Edge: Genetics

People have known for thousands of years that parents pass traits to their children, but it is only relatively recently that our technology has caught up to our curiosity, enabling us to delve into the mystery of how this inheritance occurs, and the implications for predicting, preventing and treating disease.

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