Sarah Auburn
Professor Sarah Auburn is a molecular biologist, whose passion is using genetics/genomics to learn about the biology and the epidemiology of pathogens and their hosts. In pursuit of this interest, she obtained a PhD in genetic epidemiology from Oxford University, and has acquired research skills transcending field work, molecular laboratory techniques and bioinformatics. In her first post-doc (2007-10), Prof Auburn facilitated the establishment of the Wellcome Sanger Institute's first Plasmodium laboratory and gained expertise in malaria genomics. In 2010, she joined Menzies where she leads an international program on malaria genomic discovery and molecular surveillance. Auburn’s innovative, multidisciplinary program incorporates molecular biology, population genomics and software development to generate laboratory and analytical tools for molecular surveillance of Plasmodium Spp. towards elimination. The program has a major focus on P. vivax, with unique strategies to inform on the complex liver-stage reservoir in this species. This work leverages on a critical network spearheaded by Prof Auburn in partnership with global collaborators - the vivax Genomic Epidemiology Network (vivaxGEN). The network is made up of more than 16 partner countries and has made major contributions to the vivax community including thousands of global P. vivax genomes, a new genotyping assay that improves resolution of relapses from reinfections and supports geospatial monitoring, and new software for geographic attribution of imported cases. In recognition of her translational and capacity building work in vivaxGEN, Prof Auburn has been invited to join highly reputable networks including the Australian Centre of Research Excellence in Malaria Elimination and the GenRe-Mekong Program.
Abstracts this author is presenting: