Leonie Quinn

Professor Leonie Quinn is Head of the Division of Genome Sciences and Cancer at the Australian National University's John Curtin School of Medical Research. She leads the Quinn Group - Brain Cancer Discovery research team and is a member of The Shine-Dalgarno Centre for RNA Innovation. Her research focuses on Drosophila genetic models to understand transcriptional networks driving tissue growth and cancer mechanisms.

Her research interests include:

• Transcriptional control of oncogenes like MYC
• Neural stem cell niche dynamics in brain cancer
• Drosophila models of leukemia and glioma
• 3D organoid systems for drug discovery

Her publications show consistent focus on transcriptional regulation in cancer development, particularly through Drosophila models. Recent work explores mitochondrial mechanisms in neurodegeneration and glial cell proliferation pathways.

Awards and fellowships:

• Fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering
• Fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineers

She currently supervises 9+ students and postdoctoral researchers. Major grants include:

• Australian Functional Genomics Network (2021-2026)
• Discovery of Targeted Brain Cancer Therapies (2022-2026)
• NHMRC Equipment Grant for 3D organoid platforms (2022-2023)

She leads the Quinn Group - Brain Cancer Discovery team and coordinates the Canberra Brain Cancer Collaborative connecting ANU research with clinical units at Canberra Hospital.