- Unit Head, Cell Biology Unit, Children’s Medical Research Institute
- Associate Professor, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney
Tracy Bryan obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from Macquarie University in Sydney. During her PhD studies with Roger Reddel at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Sydney (1993 – 1997), she discovered a new mechanism for maintenance of the ends of chromosomes (telomeres) in human tumours, called ALT.
Dr. Bryan spent four years conducting postdoctoral research with Tom Cech at the University of Colorado, USA, where she carried out biochemical studies on the enzyme telomerase, which adds DNA to telomeres. She returned to Australia to establish her own research programme at the CMRI in 2001. The research in Dr. Bryan’s laboratory continues to focus on the role of telomeres in cancer cells and in bone marrow failure syndromes, with an emphasis on understanding the cell biology and biochemistry of telomerase action.