Professor Rachel Conyers is a paediatric oncologist and clinician scientist leading the Cancer Therapies group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI). She has sub-specialised with specialist training in childhood leukaemia, lymphoma, and bone marrow transplantation. She is the current Director of the Children’s Cancer Centre and the Clinical Lead of Bone Marrow Transplantation at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), Melbourne.

Rachel is also a Clinical Scientist Fellow generously funded by the Good Friday Appeal.

Professor Conyers is an internationally recognised leader in pharmacogenomics and rare toxicities, exemplified by her role as PI for the cardio toxicity working group within the Ponte De Legno Childhood Leukaemia Group and representation on the Children’s Oncology Group Pharmacogenomics and Epidemiology working group (United States).

She is also an Associate Investigator with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, reNEW. In Australia she was the lead for the MRFF funded VPCC 1.0 Pharmacogenomics Implementation and Discovery and remains Co-chair of the Pharmacogenomics Working Group in the Zero Childhood Cancer Program.

Professor Conyers has held consecutive prestigious fellowships including Murdoch Children's Research Institute Clinician Scientist Fellowship; Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Kids Cancer Project Early Career Fellowship and in 2025 was awarded a VESKI fair fellowship. She has independently secured $8.6M in competitive grant funding as Chief Investigator A (CIA), with a further $16.8M as CIB and beyond, including MRFF, NHMRC, state government, and philanthropic sources.

She also established the Australian Cardio-Oncology Registry and Biobank and leads its associated research programs (National Heart Foundation and MRFF). More recently, she has led the development of the Australian implementation of pharmacogenomics in immunocompromised populations (MARVEL-Pic; MRFF genomics health future mission). In 2024 she established and led the development of BANDICOOT, the first adaptive platform trial (APT) in paediatric haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) in the world.

To date, Professor Conyers has published over 110 peer-reviewed articles, accumulating more than 1,900 citations and an h-index of 19 (GS). Her work has global reach and has led to the development over 20 guidelines with citations in the European Society of Cardiology pharmacogenomics guidelines and most recently the National Institute of Health genomics guidelines.

Rachel has also demonstrated a strong commitment to leadership and professional development. She has completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Melbourne Business School, earning a Dean’s Commendation in Business Strategy (2021). She has furthered her leadership training through the Melbourne Business School Leadership in Health Care Program (as a VCCC Scholarship recipient) and the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administration’s Leadership for Clinicians Program (AFRACMA, 2021).