Our Alumni

  • Dr Ghamdan Al-Eryani

    2017-2023

    During his PhD, Gammy specialised in the development and application of single-cell methodologies for the profiling of immune cells. He co-developed the first high throughput single-cell method capable of profiling the full-length receptors of both T-cell and B-cells along with their transcriptome using long-read sequencers. His work in phenotyping has been implemented towards spatial technologies, where combined with single-cell multimodal technologies, he investigated the cellular immune ecotypes of melanoma and breast cancers.

    Gammy is now a postdoctoral fellow with Aziz Al’Khafaji and Nir Hacohen at the Broad Institute of MIT

  • Prof Joakim Lundeberg

    2022-2023

    Joakim Lundeberg, Ph.D., is a co-founder of Science for Life Laboratory Sweden. He was a visiting scientist in the Swarbrick lab between 2022 and 2023. In recent years, he has been focused on spatial transcriptomics technologies that enable a detailed description of gene expression patterns in tissue sections. Dr. Lundeberg has publications demonstrating the development of the technology but also examples of the impact of spatial analysis in biology. The current research focuses on expanding the spatial modalities and developing new software tools and applications in human cell atlas, neurology, and cancer.

  • Dr Niantao Deng

    2014-2022

    Niantao worked as a postdoctoral bioinformatician in the lab. During his time, his research focused on understanding breast cancer patients’ response to treatment using single cell sequencing technologies. He has received funding from National Breast Cancer Foundation and Cancer Australia to support his research. He is now a Senior Data Scientist at ProCan Cancer Data Science Group where he is continuing his research in cancer genomics to study across multiple types of cancers.

  • Dr Sunny Wu

    2017-2021

    Sunny Wu recently completed his PhD in in the Swarbrick lab in 2020. During his PhD, Sunny received the 2019 Gabrielle Murphy Prize for Tumour Microenvironment Research, Australian society for Immunology; 2019 St Vincent’s Clinical School UNSW International Travel Award; 2018 EMBL International Travel Award; 2018 Australasian Genomic Technologies Association Domestic Travel Award; 2021 Received Dean’s commendation for Outstanding PhD Thesis. 4 invited seminars. Co-inventor on 2 provisional patent applications.

    Sunny commended a postdoctoral fellowship in the Turley Lab, Genentech, in December 2021.

  • Dr Nenad Bartonicek

    2019-2021

    Nenad Bartonicek worked as a computational postdoc in the Swarbrick lab. In 2021 secured a position as lead bioinformatician at biotech startup at Cesar Australia (Melbourne).

  • Dr Simon Junankar

    2015-2020

    Simon Junankar worked as a postdoc in tumour immunology, funded by a grant from the NBCF as CIA.

    Simon is now Scientific Affairs Director at AliveX Biotech

  • Dr Holly Holliday

    2014-2018

    Holly Holliday was a PhD student, working on transcription factors in breast development. This was followed by 2 years as a postdoc (2018-2020) working on the childhood cancer neuroblastoma. In 2020, she took up a postdoctoral position at the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia, to continue her interest in peadiatric oncology.

  • Dr James Torpy

    James Torpy completed his PhD in 2021 in bioinformatics, under the supervision of Dr Nenad Bartonicek. James left the lab in 2021 to pursue a postdoc with Dr Leonard Goldstein.

  • Nicola Fluke

    Nicola worked as a research assistant and animal technician in the Swarbrick lab from 2012 to 2020. She then moved to the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute where she works as a Technical Officer.

  • Dr Aurelie Cazet

    Aurelie Cazet joined my lab as a Postdoctoral fellow in 2012. She was a Co-team Leader of the “Translational Prostate Cancer Research Program Grant” from Movember ($3,000,000) and CIA on peer-reviewed project grant from St Vincent’s Foundation. Aurelie moved into Pharma and is now the national senior breast cancer MSL for AstraZeneca. She works across strategy, preclinical research and clinical trials.

  • Vanina Rodriguez

    Vanina joined the lab in 2017 to work as a research assistant an anima technician. In 2019, Vanina joined the lab of Professor Christine Chaffer, to continue her work as a research assistant.

  • Andrea McFarland

    Andrea managed the group’s small animal research from 2008 to 2019. She is now a director of ‘Small talk events’ and trains new animal technicians at TAFE.

  • Dr Laura Baker

    Laura completed her PhD in the lab in the role of transcription factors in breast cancer, and is now a Senior Consultant at ACIL Allen Consulting.

  • Eoin Dodson

    Eoin was a PhD student in the Swarbrick lab from 2014-2017, investigating the use of microRNAs as a therapeutic approach in neuroblastoma.

  • Dr Iva Nikolic

    Iva Nikolic was a postdoctoral fellow in my laboratory from 2012-2015. She then joined the Victorian Centre for Functional genomics as deputy head of the VCFG under Kaylene Simpson. In 2019 she moved to biotech Onko-Innate as Director of Functional Genomics.

  • Chia-Ling Chan

    Chia-Ling was a research assistant in the Swarbrick Lab from 2016-2018, where she applied her extensive expertise in molecular and sequencing technologies to a variety of different projects. Chia-Ling joined the Garvan Weizmann Centre for Cellular Genomics as a technical research specialist in 2019.

  • Breanna Fitzpatrick

  • Dr Radhika Nair

    Radhika Nair was a postdoctoral fellow in my laboratory from 2011-2015. In this time she was a Co-team Leader of the “Translational Prostate Cancer Research Program Grant” from the PCFA/Movember ($3,000,000). Radhika returned to India as the Ramanujan Fellow in the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram and was appointed to faculty in 2018.

    Radhika is now a faculty member in the Centre for Human Genetics, Bangalore India

  • Dr Wee Teo

    Wee conducted his Honours and PhD in the Swarbrick lab, graduating in 2013

    Wee is now a product manager at A-Dec devices

  • Dr Yuwei Phua

    Yuwei Graduated from the Lab in 2013, after studying the role of microRNA in cancer.

    Yuwei is now a senior forensic scientist at the Health Sciences Authority Singapore.

  • Sunny Ye

    Suny graduated from the lab in 2013.

  • Dr Akira Nguyen

  • Dr Alexander Shaw