Elizabeth Murchison

Elizabeth Murchison is Professor of Comparative Oncology and Genetics at the University of Cambridge, Department of Veterinary Medicine. She leads the Transmissible Cancer Group, working to further understand transmissible cancers in dogs and Tasmanian devils.

Elizabeth grew up in Tasmania and performed her undergraduate studies in genetics and biochemistry at the University of Melbourne. After moving to the US to perform her PhD in molecular biology and genetics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Elizabeth returned to Australia where she initiated genetic studies of the Tasmanian devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1). In 2009, she was awarded an NHMRC Overseas Biomedical Fellowship to travel to the Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK, where she was involved in sequencing the Tasmanian devil genome as well as genetic analysis of DFT1 and CTVT. Elizabeth joined the University of Cambridge, Department of Veterinary Medicine in 2013. In her spare time, Elizabeth enjoys hiking in Tasmania’s remote wilderness.

Elizabeth has been the recipient of several honours and awards, including:

• Membership of the EMBO Young Investigator Programme (2017)
• Philip Leverhulme Prize (2014)
• Cancer Research UK Future Leaders in Cancer Research Prize (2014)
• British Association for Cancer Research-AstraZeneca Young Scientist Frank Rose Award (2014)
• Genetics Society Balfour Prize Lecture (2014)
• Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators (2012)
• Science Heirlooms Award (2012)
• L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship, UK and Ireland (2009)

Elizabeth Murchison’s 2011 TED talk, entitled “Fighting a contagious cancer”, has been watched more than 450,000 times:

Elizabeth Murchison’s Department of Veterinary Medicine page