Research theme
Research group
Biography
Associate Professor Mark Cowley is Deputy Director (Enabling Platforms and Collaboration) at Children’s Cancer Institute and Group Leader, Computational Biology. His mission is to create a future where every child receives an accurate and timely diagnosis through comprehensive molecular profiling, built on a backbone of whole genome sequencing complemented by RNA-seq and methylome analysis.
Since joining CCI in 2018, Mark has built a multidisciplinary team of ~40 researchers and engineers focused on genomics and data science to improve outcomes for children with cancer. He leads Genome Informatics and the Data Enabling Platforms for Australia’s Zero Childhood Cancer Program, advancing real-time analysis of multi-omics data and pioneering liquid biopsy and molecular monitoring at national scale.
This translation is underpinned by long-standing support from Luminesce Alliance and NSW Health’s OHMR, enabling sustained infrastructure and collaboration that has delivered 18 Medicare-funded genomic tests (MBS items) and informed reimbursement pathways, including PBS approvals for targeted therapies.
As Deputy Director, Mark oversees CCI’s Research Enabling Platforms, empowering researchers with access to cutting-edge technologies and collaborative capabilities that accelerate discovery and clinical impact. He also serves as President of the Australasian Genomic Technologies Association (AGTA), fostering innovation and collaboration across the genomics community.
Publications
Awards
Good Design Award, Best in class (Service Design Category): ZeroDash: accelerating precision medicine for children with cancer, 2023
Genomic medicine year in review: 2021, top 10 key advances in precision medicine (for PMID:33020650), 2021
Children’s Brain Tumour Network (CBTN) Global Inclusion Champion, 2021
European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)’s Top 10 Cancer Research Publications: February 2021 (PMID: 32499442), 2021
ABACBS mid-career researcher award, 2020
NSW Health - 2020 NSW Health Award for the Zero Childhood Cancer Program
Eberhard Mammen Seminars in Thrombosis and Haemostasis Most Popular Article Award, 2020
UNSW Promoting High Quality Research Papers Scheme Award, for Zammit et al, Nat Immunol. 2019 Oct;20(10):1299-1310 (PMID: 31534238), 2019
UNSW Promoting High Quality Research Papers Scheme Award, for Palmer et al, Am J Hum Genet. 2019 Mar 7;104(3):542-552 (PMID: 30827498), 2019
UNSW Promoting High Quality Research Papers Scheme Award, for Bagnall et al, J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018 Jul 24;72(4):419-429 (PMID: 30025578), 2019
Wildfire Award, Cancer Institute NSW (most highly cited paper of the year, PMID: 26909576), 2019
Wildfire Award, Cancer Institute NSW (most highly cited paper of the year, PMID: 25719666), 2018
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