Women in science we admire
Kathryn Burdon
Kathryn Burdon nominated by Jac Charlesworth
She is my peer, my inspiration and my friend. She showed me that you can be a woman in science and have a career, a family, and a life. She inspires me to keep trying, to keep following my love of science – and whenever I think I’ve hit my limit she shows me how to work around or push past it. And she does all these things while also being an incredible scientist! Dr Kathryn Burdon is one of those rare young geneticists who has seen her work translated from gene discovery though to improving the lives of patients. She has discovered genes for blinding eye diseases that have led to better diagnostics, genetic counselling and improved outcome (and vision) for many people.
Principal Research Fellow - Cancer Genetics and Immunology Source: YouTube, Published on 20 Mar 2017, Menzies Institute of Medical Research, University of Tasmania
Associate Professor Burdon is interested in identification of genes for blinding diseases and how these genes can be used in clinical care. She has been working in the field of genetics for 15 years, recently conducting genome-wide association studies in the areas of glaucoma and keratoconus. She also has a large project under way in diabetic retinopathy.
Here she explains what she would like to achieve in the next 5 years.