Shafagh Waters

Dr. Shafagh Waters is a Scientia Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) School of Biomedical Sciences and honorary senior scientist at Sydney Children's Hospital. She holds a PhD from Australian National University, MSc (Distinction) from University of Otago, and BSc from University of Auckland. Her research program focuses on adult stem cell biology for cystic fibrosis (CF), organoid medicine, and gene therapy.

She leads an NHMRC-funded research program establishing Australia's national biobank of stem-cell-derived airway and gut organoids. Her work combines organoid disease modeling, multi-omic molecular profiling, and computational approaches to develop personalized therapies for CF. Recent publications demonstrate strong focus on CFTR modulator efficacy, SARS-CoV-2 host responses, and innovative organoid-based platforms.

Honors include:

• Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2022)
• Best EMCR Poster Award - Australian Academy of Science (2019)
• Travel Awards from multiple institutions (2008-2019)
• Best PhD Candidate Talk (2010) and Poster Presentation (2007) awards

She leads an independent lab established in 2016 and has secured 32 grants (21 as CIA). Current projects include NHMRC-funded personalized CF medicine, nanoparticle gene therapy, and airway cell therapy for CF nonsense mutations. She supervises PhD, Honours, and Masters students.