AEpiA Committee Chair

Menzies Institute for Medical Research

A/Prof Phillippa Taberlay is a Principal Research Fellow in Epigenetics and Lead of the Cancer and Genomics Theme at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, UTAS. She trained in Los Angeles with Prof Peter Jones (USC) and launched her independent lab at the Garvan Institute in Sydney with Prof Sue Clark. Phillippa’s work has earned international recognition, including “must-read” honours and editorial features for pioneering technologies that have reshaped our understanding of genome regulation in ageing, cancer, and neurodegeneration. She is the co-inventor of NOMe-seq, a globally adopted and commercialised technique endorsed by the International Human Epigenome Consortium, and her discoveries have redefined enhancer biology and 3D genome organisation, with publications in Cell, PNAS, Cancer Cell, and Genome Research. She received the Sandra Eades Award as the top-ranked Emerging Leadership 2 Indigenous Investigator (2020-2024) and now holds an NHMRC Leadership 1 Investigator Grant (2026-30). Phillippa has been recently appointed Chair of the Australasian Epigenetics Alliance and is a long-serving advisor to NHMRC. She is committed to inclusive, high-impact science and a passionate mentor and advocate for EMCRs.

SAiGENCI, ACE

Dr Luke Isbel is a group leader, holding a joint appointment at The South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI) & The Adelaide Centre for Epigenetics (ACE), located within the University of Adelaide. He runs an inclusive & creative team aiming to understand how epigenetic forces (i.e. on chromatin) serve as a guiding force to direct gene regulatory machinery in cells. This involves fundamental & applied models, particularly around the genomic regulatory factors that are frequently mutated in cancer. Luke returned to Australia in late 2023 to establish his own laboratory, after his PhD with Professor Emma Whitelaw and a postdoctoral position in Basel, Switzerland with Professor Dirk Schübeler. He has held prestigious Fellowships - the Marie Sklodowska-curie Fellowship (EU) & CJ Martin Early Career Fellowship (NHMRC), & is currently a Viertel Senior Medical Research Fellow. He is the recipient of the 2019 Chiquet-Ehrismann prize, the 2024 Max Burger prize & the 2024 Lorne Genome Mid-Career Prize.

AGRF

Dr Dhanya Sooraj is a Senior Scientist in the Innovation and Development department at the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF Ltd.), where she leads Advanced Genomic Services, including 3D epi/genomics, genome topology, chromatin mapping, and variant detection. Her team supports researchers across Australia and New Zealand through AGRF’s certified partnership with Dovetail Genomics (Cantata Bio, USA) and integration of EpiCypher technologies. Dhanya’s expertise lies in 3D genome architecture and cancer epigenomics, with a focus on chromatin regulation and disease-associated genomic landscapes. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Functional Genomics and Cancer Genetics Laboratory at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and has published in Cancer Cell, Molecular Cell, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, and Science Advances, contributing to pediatric precision medicine and cancer epigenetics. Dhanya also serves as an Editorial Reviewer for Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences and is passionate about making advanced genomic technologies more accessible to researchers and clinicians.