Overview

Professor Grant Montgomery FAHMS FSRB Hon FRSNZ

Professor Montgomery was born in New Zealand, completed PhD studies in Animal Science at Massey University and post-doctoral research in France. In 1987, he co-founded the New Zealand Sheep Genomics Program in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Otago and pioneered the introduction of genome mapping methods in farm animals. He moved to Australia in 1999 and joined the Queensland Institute of Medical Research where he ran a successful genome mapping program for human complex disease. In 2016, he moved to the University of Queensland and holds joint appointments at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), where he is the Director of the Centre for Population & Disease Genomics, and the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI). He is a National Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellow and was elected a Fellow the Society for Reproductive Biology in 2012, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2015, and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2016. His research focusses on discovery of critical genes and pathways increasing risk for common diseases especially reproductive diseases including endometriosis.

Researcher biography

Research Impacts

Professor Montgomery has made substantial contributions to the worldwide effort to map genomic regions contributing to risk for complex traits and diseases, including endometriosis, age at menarche and menopause, cancers of the reproductive tract, melanoma and inflammatory bowel disease. He is conducting systems genetics and functional studies to identify the genes and pathways affected by these genetic risk factors. His work has identified possible target genes and functional consequences of genetic risk factors in genomic regions associated with endometriosis providing novel insights into the causes of this important disease. He is Patron of the Endometriosis Association (QLD) Inc (QENDO) and has worked closely with QENDO, other patient groups, clinicians and politicians to help develop the National Action Plan for Endometriosis. He is on the Executive Committee of the National Endometriosis Clinical and Scientific Trials (NECST) Network. He was also the founding Director of the UQ Genome Innovation Hub developing novel methods and pipelines for genomics in health and agriculture that can be widely applied in programs across The University of Queensland.

Qualifications

  • PhD, Massey University
Featured projects Duration
Quantitative transcriptome analysis (CAGE)
Genome Innovation Hub Collaborative Project (UQ infrastructure)
2019