Tessa Swain

Tessa Swain is a Research Fellow at the School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, and a key member of the Australian Centre for RNA Therapeutics in Cancer (ACRTC). Her role involves developing RNA structure optimization approaches for personalized cancer therapies under the supervision of Prof. Archa Fox, within a collaborative multidisciplinary team.

• PhD in Molecular Biology (2016–2020) from UWA, supervised by Prof. Ryan Lister
• Postdoctoral Researcher (2020–2024) at Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research
• Industry experience at PYC Therapeutics focusing on RNA-binding domain optimization

Her research spans epigenetics, CRISPR technology, and RNA therapeutics, with a focus on creating modular systems for precise gene regulation in plants and cancer applications. Recent work includes:

• CRISPRi-based circuits for plant gene expression (2025)
• RNA structure optimization platforms (2024)
• Epigenome editing tools with reduced off-target activity (2018–2024)

Her contributions align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology. She currently leads the WA RNA Salon as Co-chair and holds the A-RNA EMCR Chair, mentoring HDR students while advancing RNA-based cancer treatments.