Dr. Nicole Lake

Biography

Nicole's research career reflects a long-standing interest in understanding how genetic variation contributes to health and disease, with a particular passion for mitochondrial genomics. She completed her Ph.D. in mitochondrial genetics under David Thorburn at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, where she employed computational and experimental methods to discover genetic causes of mitochondrial diseases. Following this, she worked as an analyst in translational mitochondrial genomics. Nicole completed her postdoctoral training at Yale University with Monkol Lek, during which she developed and applied tools to enhance the discovery of genetic causes of disease and variant classification, specifically focusing on the mitochondrial genome. She holds MSc and BSc degrees in Genetics from the University of Melbourne and the University of Edinburgh, respectively. Nicole’s professional experience includes teaching at the university level, conducting clinical genetic testing, participating in media interviews, performing peer review, engaging in science outreach, and serving on various national and institutional committees. In 2024, she established her lab at the Yale School of Medicine.

Research Interests

Awards