Jennifer Byrne

Jennifer Byrne

Professor of Molecular Oncology
University of Sydney
Professor Byrne is Head of the Children’s Cancer Research Unit within Kids Research at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, and Professor of Molecular Oncology in the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health. She was recently recognised as one of Nature's "ten people who mattered in 2017". She has spent her scientific career analyzing childhood and adult cancers at a molecular level. Her PhD studies mapped gene loss in childhood cancer, and she then identified a novel human gene family during postdoctoral studies in France. Professor Byrne's research interests include the regulation of lipid storage in cancer cells, the identification of cancer predisposition genes and predictive biomarkers in childhood cancer patients, and the improvement of cancer biobank operations, and systematic research fraud.

From this author

Inclusive and workplace acceptance of refugees
Partnering for refugee employment

When considering their talent pipelines, few companies think outside-of-the-box. Most refugees flourish in the workplace, and so do the businesses that hire them.

SDG 16
Institutional investors demand a more sustainable capitalism

Honey gathering is a solitary job in Indigenous communities. The collector then shares the honey with their community but refrains from joining in the honey feast themself. The idea is that the gathering is not about their gratification, it’s about their contribution to the collective.  

SDG15 Bushfires
Optimisation model as a guide to burning forests to save forests

Setting fire to parts of a forest to save it might seem counterintuitive to urban communities. There is no equivalent of torching a few streets to protect a suburb. However, amongst First Nations people in Australia, hazard reduction burning is a well-established practice.

SDG13 - coal mining
Net zero now – it’s the economy AND the planet

In Australia, as elsewhere, the climate wars have focused on the climate versus jobs dichotomy. Yet while Australia remains highly dependent on fossil fuel extraction for its national economic prosperity it has also become increasingly unequal in its distribution of that wealth.