NIKOLA BOWDEN

NH & MRC Training Post-Doctoral Fellow
The University of Newcastle, Australia
PhD - Medical Genetics 2006
Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Hons) 2001
Bachelor of Biomedical Science 2000

2011 RECIPIENT - YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD

After completing her PhD in Medical Genetics in 2006, Nikola developed a research program with the aim of delivering improved and personalised diagnosis and treatment to cancer patients. Nikola’s research investigates DNA repair in children with inherited skin cancer syndromes and the previously unstudied area of the same DNA repair in melanomas from adults.

Her collaborations with the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, the University of California, the National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health (USA) have assisted in her obtaining over $1.2 million in funding, publishing 4 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and presenting at 47 international and national conferences.

In 2006 Nikola was awarded an NBN Telethon Childhood Cancer post-doctoral fellowship.  Nikola grew this position to form the Information Based Medicine Group under Professor Rodney Scott.  Nikola was awarded the HMRI PULSE Education prize in 2006, the Hunter Children’s Research Foundation Research Excellence Award in 2007 and the Schizophrenia Research Institute Paper Award in 2008.