Biological scientist named WA's Tall Poppy for 2013

Professor Ryan Lister, a genome biologist and Future Fellow in the ARC Centre for Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, has won the 2013 Tall Poppy Awards for Western Australia. The awards recognise individuals who combine world-class research with a commitment to communicating science and demonstrate great leadership potential.

Professor Lister is an expert in using advanced DNA sequencing technologies and computational biology to understand how the genomes of complex biological organisms work. His research focuses on epigenetics and genomics.

The epigenome - a molecular code superimposed upon the genome that controls how our genes are turned on and off - plays a pivotal role in normal development and disease/stress states in animals and plants. Researchers had previously only been able to glimpse snippets of this epigenetic information, but by developing techniques utilising DNA sequencing technology, Professor Lister was able to generate the first accurate whole epigenome maps for humans and plants.

His research is giving scientists critical insights into how the epigenome regulates gene expression and is perturbed in disease or stress. He has enabled leaps forward in our understanding of the epigenome which will provide benefits to human health, regenerative medicine and agriculture.

Other finalists included Dr Jean-Paul Hobbs from the University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute, Adjunct Associate Professor Graeme Zosky and Dr Hannah Moore from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Dr James Miller-Jones from Curtin University.