Rate My Professor Aaron Jeffs

Dr. Aaron Jeffs is a Scientific Officer in the Division of Health Sciences at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, where he works for Otago Genomics Ltd as a sequencing specialist. He holds a PhD in Cancer Genetics from the University of Otago, Christchurch, and an MSc in Animal Physiology from the University of Canterbury. His career at the University of Otago spans multiple departments, including the Department of Pathology at the Dunedin School of Medicine, the Cancer Genetics Laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry, and the Otago Genomics Facility under Health Sciences. Listed as an Assistant Research Fellow in staff directories, Jeffs has contributed to genomic research and sequencing technologies, including discussions on genome sequencing featured on RNZ National's Our Changing World programme alongside colleagues.

Jeffs' academic interests center on genomics and cancer, as verified by his Google Scholar profile. He has authored or co-authored 27 publications listed on ResearchGate, garnering 711 citations. Key publications include 'Germline mutations in WTX cause a sclerosing skeletal dysplasia but do not predispose to tumorigenesis' (Nature Genetics, 2009), 'The BCR gene recombines preferentially with Alu elements in complex BCR-ABL translocations of chronic myeloid leukaemia' (Human Molecular Genetics, 1998), 'A gene expression signature of invasive potential in metastatic melanoma cells' (PLoS ONE, 2009), 'Hyperproliferation, cancer, and inflammation in mice expressing a Δ133p53-like isoform' (Blood, 2011), and 'Whole genome re-sequencing of two ‘wild-type’ strains of the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803' (New Zealand Journal of Botany, 2014). Recent works feature 'TP53 splice mutations have tumour-independent effects on genomic stability and prognosis: An in silico study' (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2025), 'Renal fibrosis mRNA classifier: Validation in experimental lithium-induced interstitial fibrosis in the rat kidney' (PLoS ONE, 2016), 'Role of the TP53 splice mutations in cancer progression' (Proceedings of the Genetics Otago Annual Symposium, 2025), 'Development of a prognostic tool for identifying high-risk prostate cancer patients' (Proceedings of the Genetics Otago Annual Symposium, 2025), and 'ACCess mATTers: Trio' (Junctures, 2017). These contributions span cancer genetics, gene expression analysis, fibrosis classifiers, and genomic sequencing methodologies.