John Mattick

John Mattick is the Professor of RNA Biology at UNSW Sydney. He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry at Monash University in Melbourne and undertook his postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He was previously Chief Executive of Genomics England, Executive Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, and Director of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, the Australian Genome Research Facility, the ARC Special Research Centre for Molecular and Cell Biology, and the ARC Special Research Centre for Functional and Applied Genomics at the University of Queensland. His research interests have been focused for the past three decades on the role of regulatory RNAs in the evolution and development of complex organisms. He pioneered the thesis that the majority of the genome of humans and other complex organisms, previously considered to be ‘junk’, is devoted to regulatory RNAs that direct the epigenetic trajectories of differentiation and development. He has published over 300 research articles and reviews, which have been cited over 83,000 times. His work has received editorial coverage in Nature, Science, Scientific American, New Scientist and the New York Times. It has also been highlighted in two books: The Deeper Genome by John Parrington and Promoting the Planck Club by Don Braben. He has received numerous awards including the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Medal, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Bertner Award for Distinguished Contributions to Cancer Research, and the Human Genome Organization Chen Medal for Distinguished Achievement in Human Genetics and Genomic Research. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Royal Society of New South Wales, the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. He is also an Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization.