Dr Janine Deakin ‘Transmissible tumours threatening survival of Tasmanian devils’

Janine Deakin is an Associate Professor in the Institute for Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra.  In 2010 she was awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship to track the evolution of devil facial tumours. With the Fellowship she established her own research group, initially at the ANU and, from 2013, at the University of Canberra. Janine’s passion for Australian wildlife has also led her to explore aspects of genetics and genomics of platypus, wallabies and central bearded dragons.

Tasmanian devils have experienced a turbulent history, becoming extinct on mainland Australia and surviving previous population crashes in Tasmania. But they are now fighting for their lives as they battle two contagious cancers. These transmissible tumours, commonly known as devil facial tumour disease, threaten the wild devil population with extinction. Janine will discuss the work her team has been doing to understand the genetics of these unusual tumours.