Dr Joanna Achinger-Kawecka is a Group Leader of the 3D Epigenome in Cancer group at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Conjoint Lecturer at St Vincent's Clinical School, UNSW Sydney. Joanna completed her PhD in 2014 at the University of Tuebingen, Germany, investigating microRNA signatures as predictive biomarkers for breast cancer treatment outcome.
Following her PhD, Joanna joined the Epigenetics Research laboratory of Prof Susan Clark at the Garvan Institute, where she established cutting-edge experimental and computational approaches to study the 3D genome organization. She has been awarded competitive research funding from CCNSW, NBCF and UNSW and established her own research group in 2023.
The main goal of the group’s research is to understand the role of 3D genome architecture in cancer, including its cell-to-cell and temporal variability. For that, they combine and integrate cutting-edge genomics technology, single-cell epigenome profiling, genome editing and pre-clinical models to study the interplay of the 3D genome and epigenome in cancer and how these 3D epigenome changes can be targeted with epigenetic therapy. Beyond the fundamental discoveries, their main goal is to uncover new therapeutic targets and biomarkers for the treatment of metastatic disease.