Professor Kathryn North AC is Director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the David Danks Professor of Child Health Research at the University of Melbourne.
Professor North is trained as a paediatric physician, neurologist and clinical geneticist and was awarded a doctorate for research in neurogenetics. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Harvard Genetics Program. She is a translational scientist and is widely recognised as a world leader in neuromuscular disorders, cognitive deficits in neurofibromatosis, and the study of genes that influence athletic performance.
Professor North is a national and international leader in genomic medicine. She leads Australian Genomics, an NHMRC-funded national network of over 80 institutions around Australia, with the goal of developing evidence and practical strategies to embed genomic medicine in the Australian health system. She is on the Executive and Steering Committee of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, a collaborative network of over 500 organisations across 71 countries.
She has received a number of awards and distinctions including the GSK Australia Award for Research Excellence (2011), the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research (2012), she was elected as a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science (2014), and in recognition of her eminent service to genomic medicine nationally and internationally, to medical research in the fields of genetics, neurology and child health, and as a mentor and role model, she was appointed a Companion (AC) of the Order of Australia in 2019. Professor North served as Chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council Research Committee from 2012-2018 and she is Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UK).
