Rate My Professor Murray Cairns

Professor Murray Cairns serves as a Professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy within the Faculty of Health and Medicine at the University of Newcastle. He earned his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of New South Wales. After completing his doctorate, he undertook postdoctoral research as an industry scientist at Johnson and Johnson Research and Nucleics in Sydney. He then transitioned to an academic research position at the University of Newcastle, initially supported by the Schizophrenia Research Institute. Since 2017, he has been supported by an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship, currently holding the NHMRC Leadership Research Fellow position.

As Team Leader of the Centre for Complex Disease Neurobiology and Precision Medicine, Professor Cairns investigates the molecular architecture of complex disorders, including psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and cardiovascular diseases, at both individual and population levels. His research integrates systems biology, functional genomics, population genetics, and multi-omics approaches including genome-wide SNP analysis, whole genome sequencing, RNA-Seq, and DNA methylation profiling to elucidate disease pathogenesis, discover biomarkers like neuronal miRNAs in blood for schizophrenia, and enable precision medicine strategies for drug repurposing and personalized interventions. Key contributions include identifying genetic predictors for optimizing hypertension treatment, links between genetics and circulating vitamin A levels impacting neuronal connectivity, and potential treatments for obesity and diabetes. He has authored over 350 publications, accumulating more than 35,000 citations. Notable papers include 'Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia Across Multiple Genetic Scales' (Cell, 2018), 'Schizophrenia is associated with an increase in cortical microRNA biomarkers' (Neuropsychopharmacology, 2010), 'Genetics-informed precision treatment formulation in schizophrenia' (American Journal of Human Genetics, 2022), and 'Using Genetics to Inform Interventions Related to Sodium and Blood Pressure' (Circulation, 2023). His achievements encompass the 2015 NARSAD Independent Investigator Grant, a $2.6 million MRFF Genomics Health Futures Mission Grant in 2024, and collaborations with HMRI, NeuRA, the Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank, and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, significantly influencing precision psychiatry and chronic disease management.