Rate My Professor Louise Bicknell

Professor Louise Bicknell holds a BSc(Hons) and a PhD in human genetics from the University of Otago, which she completed in 2007. After her doctoral studies, she conducted research at the University of Edinburgh before repatriating to the University of Otago in 2015 with a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship in the Department of Pathology. She was awarded an inaugural Health Research Council Consolidator Grant thereafter. In 2021, Bicknell joined the Department of Biochemistry as a Senior Lecturer and advanced to the position of Professor. In 2020, she received the Rowheath Trust Award and the Carl Smith Medal from the University of Otago. Her research group receives funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, Cure Kids, the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand, the University of Otago, and the Marsden Fund. She serves as Co-Deputy Director of Genetics Otago, Regional Representative for the Human Genetics Society of Australasia, and Co-Chair of the Personal Awards Committee for the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand.

Bicknell's research specializes in the genetics of rare disorders. Her work encompasses Meier-Gorlin syndrome, focusing on DNA replication, gene identification, and potential cancer predisposition; syndromic microcephaly, investigating mutations in established and novel genes through cellular and animal models; and developmental disorders in children, often involving intellectual disability and short stature, diagnosed via exome sequencing. She teaches courses such as GENE411, GENE360, BIOC360, and BIOC463. Key publications include 'The genetic basis of human height' (Bicknell, Hirschhorn, & Savarirayan, 2025, Nature Reviews Genetics), 'Recurrent de novo variants in the spliceosomal factor CRNKL1 are associated with severe microcephaly and pontocerebellar hypoplasia with seizures' (Ray Das et al., 2025, American Journal of Human Genetics), 'Unilateral loss of recql4 function in Xenopus laevis tadpoles leads to ipsilateral ablation of the forelimb, hypoplastic Meckel's cartilage and vascular defects' (Beck, Reily-Bell, & Bicknell, 2025, Genes Genomes Genetics), and earlier contributions in Nature Genetics (Bicknell et al., 2011). Bicknell delivered her Inaugural Professorial Lecture titled 'Genetic answers for New Zealand'.