Professor Kathryn North awarded The University of Melbourne’s highest honour

Prof North was this week awarded the Doctor of Medical Science honoris causa from The University of Melbourne. The award was presented at the 2017 Priscilla Kincaid-Smith Oration, which was established in 2015 to honour the world-renowned kidney researcher and trailblazer for Australian women scientists. Prof North delivered the Oration, 'Precision Medicine – The Future is Now', to highly-esteemed colleagues and students.

Prof North is one of Australia's leading and most influential physician scientists. Trained as a paediatrician, neurologist and clinical geneticist, she is recognised internationally for her leadership in genomic medicine and her research into inherited myopathies and genes that influence human muscle performance.

For more than 25 years, Prof North has made outstanding contributions to improving the health of the Australian people through her research excellence and leadership in neuromuscular biology and her advocacy for those affected by neuromuscular and rare inherited genetic disorders. 

Prof North's achievements in bringing genomics medicine into clinical practice have transformed the lives of thousands of children across Australia through major innovations in the areas of gene discovery, improved diagnosis and prevention, understanding of disease mechanism and the development and evaluation of novel therapies through clinical trials.

She is also leading national and international initiatives focused on genomic data sharing and the implementation of genomic medicine into clinical practice.

Congratulations to Prof North for this remarkable honour.