Dr Matthew Silcocks

Position:: Research Fellow - Bioinformatics
Theme(s):: Antimicrobial Resistance, Bacterial and Parasitic Infections, Computational Science and Genomics
Discipline(s):: Discovery Research, Computational Science and Genomics
Unit(s):: The University of Melbourne, Department of Infectious Diseases
Lab Group(s):: Dunstan Group

Matthew obtained his PhD in the field of population genetics from Melbourne Integrative Genomics in 2022. Shortly afterwards, Matthew began his postdoc in Sarah Dunstan’s lab, to study coevolution between humans and the Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogen. Matthew is interested in the evolution of the Mtb genome, and the genetic changes which underpin virulence, transmissibility and drug resistance.

Key Achievements
Research Groups

Key Achievements
- Matthew’s PhD research culminated in a landmark Nature paper in 2023, which revealed the immense degree of population structure and novel genetic variation amongst the populations of Oceania. Since joining the Doherty Institute, Matthew has applied his human genetic skills to analyse coevolution between humans and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, providing a revised paradigm for the evolution of the pathogen. Throughout all stages of his career, Matthew has collected a number of prestigious awards and prizes, including the University Medal and Margaret Clayton Award from Monash University, and the Genetics Research Award from the University of Melbourne.
Research Groups
- Dunstan Group
  
  Sarah’s group is using host and pathogen genomics to better understand infectious diseases. They perform genome-wide association studies of the host, genomic studies of the pathogen, and investigate the interaction of both genomes in tuberculosis, enteric fever and malaria patients.

Dr Matthew Silcocks

Dr Matthew Silcocks

Dunstan Group