1. What area do you research and what is significant about it?
I work in the area of bone genetics, specifically osteoporosis and high bone mass syndromes. Osteoporosis is the commonest cause of women being in hospital after the age of 40 [before this age it’s childbirth] - it’s more common than breast cancer, diabetes, ischaemic heart disease and lung disease. 25% of women with hip fracture die within 12 months of their fracture, 25% end up in long term nursing home care, and 50% never regain their pre-fracture mobility. So it’s a devastating illness in the elderly population, both for men and women. Bone mass is a highly heritable trait – in other words, it’s mainly genes that determine whether you have high or low bone density. I hope that by looking at the genetics of bone mass that I can understand the pathways that determine what builds strong bone, so that we can use this knowledge to improve therapeutic options for patients with osteoporosis.

2. What made you decide to work in this field?
We were living in Oxford, I had just finished my medical specialty exams and I was thinking about what to do next. I had always been interested in calcium and bone physiology, and in endocrinology more generally, as I enjoyed biochemistry and found endocrinology very logical. Oxford is obviously a wonderful place for research, and I thought when in Rome I should do as the Romans! So I went and talked with various people in endocrinology and in genetics, spent some time in the laboratory and found I really enjoyed wetwork, wrote a fellowship application to Action Research (a leading UK charity focussing on disability) which was funded, and created the opportunity to do my PhD in a world-leading genetics centre [the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford] researching into bone.

I then had some time out of research whilst finishing my specialist training and having children, but when we returned to Australia I was awarded a 50% UQ Postdoctoral Fellowship for Women, which is specifically aimed to help support scientists come back into research after a career break. Without this I could not have returned to science, and I am very grateful for the opportunity it gave me to start research again.

3. If you were at a dinner party and someone asked you what you do for a living, what would you say?
I say that I am an academic doctor with 50% of my time spent researching osteoporosis genetics, 50% as staff specialist in endocrinology, and a mother of two - and completely overcommitted!

4. What do you like to do when you're not in the lab?
I like spending time with my family more than anything else.

5. What would you be doing if you weren't in research?
If I didn’t do medicine and science, I would be a professional musician.

6. What are you most proud of?
My family. They bring joy to my life, and remind me daily of what really matters.