Dr Donia Macartney-Coxson obtained her PhD in microbial and molecular genetics from the University of Birmingham, UK. She then moved into the area of human genetics, initially with a postdoctoral position focused on non-small-cell lung cancer and then further translating her skills in to the area of obesity research. In 2003 she moved to New Zealand, to work at the Wakefield Biomedical Research Group headed by a gastro-intestinal surgeon, Richard Stubbs.
Donia and a colleague initiated the expansion of the group’s tissue bank from plasma and serum to include whole blood and samples from metabolic tissues. Her work focused on utilising the tissue bank resource to investigate gene expression changes associated with obesity. In 2006 she moved to the Institute of Environmental Science and Research and has since led an obesity type-two diabetes research project. She has a particular interest in epigenetics and a focus on increasing understanding of the pathogenesis of obesity and type-2 diabetes with a view to the identification and development of new biomarkers, prognostic indicators and/or diagnostic and therapeutic tools.