Dr. Kate Quinlan

Biography

Kate Quinlan is a professor at the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences at UNSW Sydney. She runs a research group focused on gene regulation, with a particular emphasis on the communication between immune cells and fat cells within adipose tissue to uncover new therapeutic targets for obesity. Kate completed her Bachelor of Science with Honours (Advanced) at the University of Sydney in 2000. She then worked overseas as a Research Assistant at the University of Cambridge for a year. Following this, she returned to the University of Sydney to complete her PhD under the supervision of Professor Merlin Crossley, specializing in transcription factor biology from 2002-2006. In 2006, she moved to the Children's Hospital Westmead for a postdoctoral position, mentoring under Professor Kathryn North, studying the effects of the human ACTN3 gene polymorphism on skeletal muscle performance and metabolism. Continuing her postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge from 2008-2010, she received mentorship from Professor Roger Pedersen while researching pluripotency and differentiation of embryonic stem cells. In 2014, Kate joined UNSW, collaborating with Professor Merlin Crossley to study transcriptional regulation of haematopoiesis and pursuing her independent research program focused on skeletal muscle metabolism. She was awarded the UNSW Scientia Fellowship, becoming an independent group leader in 2018, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021 and to Professor in 2024. Kate is also committed to mentoring several PhD and Honours students.

Research Interests

Experience