Rate My Professor Mark Cruickshank

Dr. Mark Cruickshank is a Senior Lecturer in Genetics in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Western Australia, within the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. He completed his PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Western Australia in September 2007. Following his doctoral studies, he undertook postdoctoral training at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in 2011, developing methods for generating and analysing high-throughput DNA methylation data from archived biospecimens in multiple human birth cohorts. This work provided foundational insights into DNA methylation dynamics in humans, highlighting rapid changes during early life.

In 2012, Dr. Cruickshank was appointed to a senior leadership position at the Telethon Kids Institute, where he reoriented his research towards high-risk leukaemia and cancer immunotherapy. He generated and characterised in vitro cellular and animal models to advance precision medicine and immunotherapy for childhood cancer and leukaemia. Upon his appointment as Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia in 2020, he established a research and teaching program focused on the genetics and genomics of cancer and complex disease. His current research deciphers disease mechanisms and innovative therapies for incurable cancers and immune disorders. His expertise encompasses genetics, molecular and cellular biology, drug development, cancer, leukaemia, complex disease genetics, bioinformatics, drug discovery, and biotechnology.

Key publications include 'Preclinical efficacy of azacitidine and venetoclax for infant KMT2A-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia reveals a new therapeutic strategy' (Cheung et al., Leukemia, 2023), 'Multi-omics analysis defines highly refractory RAS burdened immature subgroup of infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia' (Isobe et al., Nature Communications, 2022), 'IFNβ Is a Potent Adjuvant for Cancer Vaccination Strategies' (Audsley et al., Frontiers in Immunology, 2021), 'Single cell transcriptomics reveals cell type specific features of developmentally regulated responses to lipopolysaccharide between birth and 5 years' (Read et al., Frontiers in Immunology, 2023), and influential epigenetic studies such as 'Neonatal DNA methylation profile in human twins is specified by a complex interplay between intrauterine environmental and genetic factors, subject to tissue-specific influence' (Gordon et al., 2012) and 'Longitudinal, genome-scale analysis of DNA methylation in twins from birth to 18 months of age reveals rapid epigenetic change in early life' (Martino et al., 2013). These publications have shaped understanding of epigenetic regulation and cancer genomics.