Kathryn North

Professor North is trained as a paediatric physician, neurologist and clinical geneticist and in 1994, was awarded a doctorate from the University of Sydney for research into Neurogenetics. Her previous positions include the Douglas Burrows Professor of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney from 2004 to 2012 and Head of the Institute for Neuroscience and Muscle Research 2008 to 2012.

Her laboratory research interests focus on the molecular basis of inherited muscle disorders, as well as genes which influence normal skeletal muscle function and elite athletic performance. Her clinical research focuses on clinical trials of therapies for muscular dystrophy as well as the development of interventions for children with learning disabilities.

Professor North has received a number of awards for her research including the GSK Australia Award for Research Excellence in 2011, the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research in 2012 and the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to medicine in the field of neuromuscular and neurogenetics research in 2012. In the same year, Professor North was appointed Chair of the NHMRC Research Committee and Member of NHMRC Council.

In 2013, Professor North was appointed Vice Chair of the Steering Committee and Co-Chair of the Clinical Working Group of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). GA4GH is an international consortium of more than 200 institutions across 30 countries, focusing on the global sharing of genomic and clinical data and its application to improvement in patient diagnosis and treatment.