Associate Professor Sarah Auburn
Principal Research Fellow
Qualifications:
PhD (DPhil), University of Oxford, 2007
Bachelor of Science (Honours), University College London, 2003.
Approved level of HDR supervision at Charles Darwin University:
Primary supervisor for PhD
Location:
Darwin - Royal Darwin Hospital campus
Biography:
Associate Professor Sarah Auburn is a molecular biologist, whose passion is using genetics/genomics to learn about the biology and the epidemiology of pathogens and their hosts. In pursuit of this interest, she obtained a PhD in genetic epidemiology from Oxford University, and has acquired research skills transcending field work, molecular laboratory techniques and bioinformatics. In her first post-doc (2007-10), A/Prof Auburn facilitated the establishment of the Sanger Institute's first Plasmodium laboratory and gained expertise in malaria genomics. In 2010, she joined Menzies where she leads the genomic studies on Plasmodium vivax (P.vivax).
A/Prof Auburn's current research program incorporates molecular biology, population genomics and software development to generate laboratory and analytical tools for molecular surveillance of P. vivax towards elimination of this species. This work leverages on a unique network spearheaded by A/Prof Auburn in partnership with global collaborators - the vivax Genomic Epidemiology Network (vivaxGEN). This network is made up of more than 16 partner countries and has generated more than 1000 global P.vivax genomes.
In recognition of her translational and capacity building work in vivaxGEN and the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN), Dr Auburn has been invited to join highly reputable committees including the Australian Centre of Research Excellence in Malaria Elimination and the Centre for Genomics and Global Health.
Research Themes
- Trimarsanto, H., Amato, R., Pearson, R. D., Sutanto, E., Noviyanti, R., . . . Auburn, S. (2019). A molecular barcode and online tool to identify and map imported infection with Plasmodium vivax. bioRxiv, 776781. doi: 10.1101/776781
- Auburn, S., Getachew, S., Pearson, R. D., Amato, R., Miotto, O., Trimarsanto, H. et al. (2019). Genomic analysis of Plasmodium vivax in southern Ethiopia reveals selective pressures in multiple parasite mechanisms. J Infect Dis, 220(11), 1738-1749. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiz016.
- Auburn, S., Benavente, E. D., Miotto, O., Pearson, R. D., Amato, R., Grigg, M. J. et al. (2018). Genomic analysis of a pre-elimination Malaysian Plasmodium vivax population reveals selective pressures and changing transmission dynamics. Nat Commun, 9(1), 2585. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04965-4.
- Trimarsanto, H., Benavente, E. D., Noviyanti, R., Utami, R. A., Trianty, L., . . . Auburn, S. (2017). VivaxGEN: An open access platform for comparative analysis of short tandem repeat genotyping data in Plasmodium vivax Populations. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 11(3), e0005465. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005465.
- Rutledge, G. G., Bohme, U., Sanders, M., Reid, A. J., Cotton, J. A., Maiga-Ascofare, O. et al. (2017). Plasmodium malariae and P. ovale genomes provide insights into malaria parasite evolution. Nature, 542(7639), 101-104. doi: 10.1038/nature21038.
- Auburn, S., Bohme, U., Steinbiss, S., Trimarsanto, H., Hostetler, J., Sanders, M. et al. (2016). A new Plasmodium vivax reference sequence with improved assembly of the subtelomeres reveals an abundance of pir genes. Wellcome Open Res, 1, 4. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.9876.1.
- Auburn, S., Serre, D., Pearson, R., Amato, R., Sriprawat, K., To, S. et al (2016). Genomic analysis reveals a common breakpoint in amplifications of the Plasmodium vivax multidrug resistance 1 locus in Thailand. J Infect Dis, 214(8),1235–1242. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw323.
- Pearson, R. D., Amato, R., Auburn, S., Miotto, O., Almagro-Garcia, J., Amaratunga, C., et al. (2016). Genomic analysis of local variation and recent evolution in Plasmodium vivax. Nat Genet, 48(8), 959-964. doi: 10.1038/ng.3599.
- Noviyanti, R., Coutrier, F., Utami, R.A., Trimarsanto, H., Tirta, Y.K., Trianty, L., et al. (2015). Contrasting Transmission Dynamics of Co-endemic Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum: Implications for Malaria Control and Elimination. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 9(5): e0003739.
- Manske, M., Miotto, O., Campino, S., Auburn, S., Almagro-Garcia, J., Maslen, G., et al. (2012). Analysis of Plasmodium falciparum diversity in natural infections by deep sequencing. Nature, 487(7407): 375-379.
