Rate My Professor Oscar Ernest Eru Graham

Oscar Ernest Eru Graham is an Assistant Research Fellow in the Gene Structure and Function Laboratory, Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science, University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Division of Health Sciences. He completed his PhD at the University of Otago in 2024, with a thesis entitled "Application of nanopore sequencing for exploring the glucocerebrosidase (GBA1) gene in Parkinson’s disease," under the supervision of Professor Martin Kennedy, Dr. John Pearson, and Professor Tim Anderson. His doctoral work advanced the application of Oxford Nanopore sequencing to resolve complex structural variants in the GBA gene, a major genetic risk factor for Parkinson’s disease, addressing challenges from its pseudogene. Graham's research specializations include molecular genetics, bioinformatics, DNA sequencing, pharmacogenomics, and the genetic architecture of neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on New Zealand cohorts including Māori and Pacific peoples.

Graham's career at Otago began as a 2019 summer research student in the Centre for Free Radical Research, where he established DNA extraction and analysis methods for GBA mutations in Parkinson’s disease, receiving the Best Laboratory Presentation award. As a PhD student, he pioneered nanopore sequencing of the full GBA locus in a New Zealand Parkinson’s cohort and contributed to pharmacogenetic studies on CYP2D6 allelic diversity. Key publications include "Nanopore sequencing of the glucocerebrosidase (GBA) gene in a New Zealand Parkinson’s disease cohort" (2019), "Common Variants Coregulate Expression of GBA and Modifier Genes to Delay Parkinson’s Disease Onset" (2020, Movement Disorders), and "Allelic diversity of the pharmacogene CYP2D6 in New Zealand Māori and Pacific peoples" (2022). He was a key team member on Professor Kennedy’s Marsden Fund project ($956,000), investigating GBA variation impacts using genomics and iPSC models. Graham has presented at Nanopore Day Queenstown (2023) and University of Otago Christchurch Research Seminars.