IMB's latest news, explainers and more

 


Electric caterpillar sparks new venom discoveries

Read more

Get the latest research to your inbox

Subscribe
 

  • Wainwright Group

      Group Leader

    Professor Brandon Wainwright

    Group Leader, Genomics of Development and Disease Division
    Affiliate Professor of Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Researcher biography: 

    Professor Brandon Wainwright AM is Co-Director of the Children's Brain Cancer Centre and leads a laboratory within the UQ Diamantina Institute focused on understanding the genetic pathways behind medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumour that occurs predominantly in children. He is Chair of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Australia, Chair of the Advisory Board of the Robinson Research Institute and Chair of the Board of the South Australian Immunogenomics Cancer Institute (SAIGENCI), and serves on the boards the Australian Genome Research Facility as well as several national and international scientific review committees, including the MRFF Brain Tumour Roadmap Committee.

    Professor Wainwright completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at The University of Adelaide, after which he secured a postdoctoral fellowship with St Mary's Hospital at Imperial College London. During his six years at Imperial he worked on the first human genome project and also became a Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellow. He returned to Australia in 1990 to join UQ's Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology (now IMB) and led the Institute for Molecular Biology until 2019.

    Professor Wainwright is a geneticist, renowned for discovering the genetic pathway that causes most human cancer. He is skilled in molecular genetics, where he is using genetic approaches to dig through DNA and find the genes that cause disease. He commenced using these skills to locate the cystic fibrosis gene, but it was when isolating a gene responsible for a rare form of brain cancer called Medulloblastoma, that he discovered the role of the 'Hedgehog Pathway' in common human cancer.

    Body: 

    Highlights

    Professor Brandon Wainwright AM is a geneticist, renowned for discovering the genetic pathway that causes most human cancer. He is skilled in molecular genetics, where he is using genetic approaches to dig through DNA and find the genes that cause disease.

    He commenced using these skills to locate the cystic fibrosis gene, but it was when isolating a gene responsible for a rare form of brain cancer called Medulloblastoma, that he discovered the ‘Hedgehog Pathway.'

    He discovered not only the first brain cancer-causing gene but also a pathway involved in most cancers of all types.

    The primary focus of his current research is brain cancer because it is the most common cause of death in children and the most common cause of cancer-related death in people under 40. He is also applying his expertise to common cancer generally (particularly skin cancer), and neurodegenerative disease.

    Success for Professor Wainwright will be seeing a child cured of brain cancer that would otherwise have died. And he is confident that he can help make it happen.

    He is formerly Director of UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience, where he proudly leads a team of talented discovery scientists translating their findings to life-changing applications.

    Connect

    ResearcherID Scopus Orcid

     

      Researchers

    Dr Laura Genovesi

    Honorary Senior Research Fellow
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
    Researcher biography: 

    Laura Genovesi is a Cure Brain Cancer Foundation Research Fellow within the Paediatric Brain Cancer Laboratory headed by Professor Brandon Wainwright.

    Dr Genovesi is a cancer biologist specialising in in vivo pre-clinical models to dissect the mechanisms underpinning growth of medulloblastoma, a paediatric brain tumour. They were awarded their PhD in 2012 (University of Western Australia), where they studied the role of microRNAs in the transformation of human neural stem cells to Medulloblastoma. They relocated to the University of Queensland to commence her post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Prof. Brandon Wainwright. Dr Genovesi's post-doctoral research focuses on discovering and targeting the genetic networks that drive medulloblastoma. Their work has contributed to defining regulatory networks underlying the growth of medulloblastoma and the therapeutic application of CDK4/6 inhibitors in the treatment of medulloblastoma. Most recently, her work has characterised the status of the blood brain barrier in some of the most widely used patient derived orthotopic xenograft models of medulloblastoma. Dr Laura Genovesi's research is now focused on understanding the intrinsic and adaptive plasticity of tumour cells and acellular components of the brain tumour microenvironment (TME) that drive tumour progression and determine response to therapy. Their research integrates integrates diverse preclinical model systems including patient-derived in vivo models and dynamic ex vivo 3D hydrogel models with innovative spatial transcriptomics/ imaging and advanced computational cancer biology aiming to ultimately to improve the lives of children diagnosed with brain tumours.

      Students

    Dr Pengxiang Ji

    Higher degree by research (PhD) student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    0
    Supervisor: 

    Mr James Fraser

    Higher degree by research (PhD) student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
    Researcher profile is public: 
    1
    Supervisor: 
  • Provost
    The University of Queensland
    Member, Advisory Board
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
  • Higher degree by research (PhD) student
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
  • Casual Senior Administration Officer
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience
  • Visiting postdoctoral researcher
    Institute for Molecular Bioscience

Pages

Strawberry DNA extraction activity

Extract and view DNA from a strawberry using common household ingredients.

Get started

 

The Edge: Infection

The latest research and discovery

We are tackling the problem of drug-resistant bacteria through developing new diagnostics and treatments, and by empowering the community with knowledge on how to fight back against the threat of superbugs.

 View the latest issue
 Download magazine

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the latest research straight to your inbox. 
Stay up-to-date as we answer questions about hot topics, and share the latest news at IMB, Australia’s #1 research institute.

Subscribe

General enquiries

  +61 7 3346 2222
  imb@imb.uq.edu.au

Media enquiries

IMB fully supports UQ's Reconciliation Action Plan and is implementing actions within our institute.

Support us

Donate to research
100% of donations go to the cause