SYSTEMS GENETICS TO DETERMINE RISK OF DEVELOPING DIABETES COMPLICATIONS
Emeritus Professor Grant Morahan, Professor of Diabetes Research, University of Western Australia Centre for Medical Research (affiliated with the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research), Perth, Australia & Honorary Professor, Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health, University of Melbourne, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Perth, Australia | December 2025
Professor Morahan invented the term “Systems Genetics” for the science field that examines how genetic variants can affect whole networks of genes and whole systems; there are now several laboratories and institutes of systems genetics around the world. He also developed the next-generation genetic resource, The Gene Mine, the most powerful of its type in the world, used globally in rapid mapping and identification of genes. Collaborators nationally and internationally have tested The Gene Mine for traits and diseases in which they specialise.
As a member of the Steering Committee of the Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium, he worked to design the global study recruiting and characterising T1D genetics, which resulted in identification of over 40 T1D risk genes. The culmination of this program, for which Prof Morahan was PI of the Asia-Pacific Network, was published in Nature Genetics (41:703-707) and has been cited 1579 times.
Currently, he is a member of the Steering Committee of the Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity (ENDIA) Study, the only study in the world investigating T1D families to follow at-risk babies from pregnancy through childhood. Completing recruitment in 2020, the study already has 40 publications.
His latest discovery involves next-generation algorithms that are able to predict whether a person will be genetically high/low risk of developing a number of complex genetic diseases. Professor Morahan is working toward commercialising these genetic tests so they can benefit the public and the healthcare system.
During his career, Prof Morahan has supervised 23 postgraduate students and mentored nine postdoctoral positions. Since 2003, Prof Morahan has applied for and received close to $20 million in research funds, both nationally and internationally. He has 299 academic publications, 17,0744 citations and has an h-index of 60.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8562-7325
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Professor Christoph Hagemeyer
RESEARCH IN NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY
@ MONASH UNIVERSITY
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA -
Health and economic burden of interstitial lung diseases
Dr Cox’s main research interests focus on respiratory diseases and primarily on the economic burden and economic evaluation of interventions and treatments for their management. She earned her PhD from the University of Tasmania where her doctoral research examined the health and economic burden of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in Australia, one component of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence for Pulmonary Fibrosis, a national project implemented alongside the Australian IPF Registry and the Lung Foundation Australia. This research provided the first epidemiological profile and first costing estimates of the economic burden of the disease in Australia, providing essential evidence for health service reimbursement policies.
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Relationship between language-literacy skills and mental health
In an innovative move towards enhancing mental health services, Associate Professor Amanda Neil and team, supported by the RHH Research Foundation, are undertaking a crucial study on language-literacy skills of patients within mental health care settings. This year-long project, which commenced in April 2024, seeks to unravel to what extent, where and for whom language-literacy skills are being considered in Tasmanian mental health service provision.
