John Mattick obtained his BSc with First Class Honours in Biochemistry in 1972 from the University of Sydney, and his PhD in Biochemistry in 1978 from Monash University, on the topic of mitochondrial DNA replication and mutation. He undertook postdoctoral work on the molecular biology of the fatty acid synthase complex at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas from 1977 to 1981. He returned to Australia where he worked at the CSIRO Division of Molecular Biology in Sydney from 1982 to 1988, and subsequently at the University of Queensland in Brisbane from 1988 to 2011, where he was the Foundation Professor of Molecular Biology and Foundation Director of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. In 2012 he was appointed as the Executive Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, and in 2018 the Chief Executive of Genomics England. He returned to Sydney in 2020 and is now based at the University of New South Wales.
John is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. His honours and awards include Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Associate Membership of the European Molecular Biology Organization, the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Medal, the University of Texas Bertner Award for Distinguished Contributions to Cancer Research, and the Human Genome Organisation Chen Medal for Distinguished Achievement in Human Genetics and Genomic Research.
John’s present work is focused on the structure-function relationships of long noncoding RNAs and the role of long noncoding RNAs in development and cognition.
