MENTEE William Reay

William is in the final year of my PhD in statistical genetics under the supervision of Professor Murray Cairns at the University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research Institute. He completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science with class I honours in 2017 and now works on a project which seeks to develop methods to translate genetic data into clinical practice. He has focused primarily in my PhD candidature on exploring the use genome-wide association study data to identify drug repurposing candidates for common complex diseases and opportunities for genetics informed precision medicine.

In particular, William work integrates statistical genetics approaches with functional genomics to prioritise drugs that could be repurposed at the population level and then demonstrate how genetics could specifically identify which individuals may benefit from these repurposed treatments. His progress in this field is evidenced by his publication record, with over 10 studies published throughout his PhD candidature, as well being the co-inventor of a patent which arose from his research into precision medicine.