Rate My Professor Phillip Wilcox

Professor Phillip Wilcox (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Rakaipaaka) is a quantitative geneticist and bioethicist affiliated with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Bioethics Centre at the University of Otago. He earned his B.For.Sci.(Hons) from the University of Canterbury (1985), PhD in forestry and biotechnology from North Carolina State University (1995), and Dip. Ara Reo Māori. His career began as a scientist at Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute) from 1985 to 2015, where he advanced forest tree genomics, particularly for radiata pine breeding and disease resistance genetics. Appointed Senior Lecturer in quantitative genetics at Otago in 2015 by Beef + Lamb New Zealand Genetics, he progressed to Associate Professor and was promoted to full Professor effective February 2026. Wilcox established and leads the Department’s postgraduate Applied Sciences (Quantitative Genetics) programme, serves as Kaikōkiri Māori and Kaiawhina Māori for genetics teaching, and teaches Māori-related content in science courses.

In his research, Wilcox develops statistical methods for genomic analyses and tikanga Māori frameworks for gene technologies, focusing on inherited conditions in Māori and Pacific populations, precision medicine, and Indigenous data sovereignty. Notable contributions include pioneering genomic tools implemented in tree breeding programmes in New Zealand and the United States, and co-leading the Aotearoa NZ Genomic Variome and Rakeiora Genomics Platform projects. Key publications comprise “Rakeiora Genomics Platform: A pathfinder for genomic medicine research in Aotearoa New Zealand” (Rye et al., 2025, Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand), “Pinus radiata genome reveals a downward demographic trajectory and opportunities for genomics-assisted breeding” (Sturrock et al., 2025, G3), “Identifying Māori perspectives on gene editing in Aotearoa New Zealand” (Clark et al., 2024, Communications Biology), and “Advancing diagnosis and research for rare genetic diseases in Indigenous peoples” (Baynam et al., 2024, Nature Genetics). He has received the Genetics Excellence in Education Award and holds leadership positions including Deputy Director (Māori) of the Maurice Wilkins Centre, co-chair of Ira Tātai Whakaeke Trust, convener of MapNet since 2005, and leader of the Virtual Institute of Statistical Genetics. Wilcox delivers his Inaugural Professorial Lecture titled “Navigating contested spaces” and runs genomics education programmes in Māori environments, such as SING Aotearoa.