DNA REPAIR ON THE FANCONI ANAEMIA PATHWAY
Associate Professor Wayne Crismani
Laboratory Head, DNA Repair & Recombination
St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research,
Melbourne, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Melbourne, Australia | August 2025
Associate Professor Wayne Crismani is an internationally recognised expert in DNA repair, with a particular focus on Fanconi anaemia (FA)—a cancer-predisposition and bone marrow failure syndrome marked by extreme sensitivity to DNA damage. Based at St Vincent’s Institute in Melbourne, he leads a research program dedicated to understanding the genetic, cellular, and reproductive consequences of FA. He is currently supported by a Victorian Cancer Agency Mid-Career Fellowship and funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
His career spans academia and industry across Australia, Europe, and the United States. He has contributed to several advances in FA genetics, including the identification of new functions of FA genes, particularly in reproduction, development of isogenic cell models, and use of high-throughput functional and screening assays. He has also demonstrated that FA is under-diagnosed in Australia, which has major consequences for these individuals and for the public healthcare system. His research has been published in top-tier journals and underpins several patents, including technologies that have been successfully licensed.
Associate Professor Crismani also leads multidisciplinary studies investigating fertility and cancer risk in individuals with FA. These include the first systematic study of biological parenthood and assisted reproductive technologies in adults with FA, and efforts to identify early biomarkers of oral cancer in this high-risk group. His work is conducted in close collaboration with scientists, clinicians, fertility specialists, and patient advocates. He co-founded Fanconi Anaemia Support Australasia with a group of families in 2019 and continues to organise scientific and social events for the FA community.
He works with international FA registries, research consortia, and the Fanconi Cancer Foundation to ensure research findings inform real-world care. His program bridges molecular biology, reproductive health, and translational science, with the goal of improving health outcomes for people with FA and genetic conditions.
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Tyrosine Kinases in cancer recurrence
Dr Yu Yu leads the Oncology and Gynaecology Research Program at Curtin Medical Research Institute . Dr Yu is also a senior research fellow at Curtin Medical School.
Dr Yu Yu’s laboratory is working on better ways to treat cancers, particularly ovarian cancers which are resistant to conventional chemotherapy. The aims are for better informed treatment choice and reducing unnecessary exposure to ineffective chemotherapy and its potential adverse effects.
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Role of Community Paramedicine in Non-Emergency Presentations
Dr Robbie King is a Lecturer in paramedicine and researcher at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) Brisbane. He also continues to provide clinical care as a registered paramedic for community members served by a jurisdictional ambulance service. Dr King has gained significant experience working in an advanced practice, community paramedic style role, holding expert clinical insight into the nuances of paramedic-led community-based healthcare for non-emergency presentations. This often involves adopting a biopsychosocial approach, rather than following the biomedical model more associated with emergency medicine and paramedic culture.
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Personalised approaches to lung therapy
Dr. Adams’ research focus is on lung cancer, which is the deadliest of all cancers worldwide. He is working towards developing personalised approaches to pinpoint a therapy that is going to be most effective for the person with that disease. Dr. Adams’ research is focusing on chemotherapy and targeted therapy, and he is trying to identify upfront which of those tumours are likely to be resistant to the therapy. He then identifies strategies that will resensitize or increase the sensitivity of the tumour to the standard of care that is targeted therapy or chemotherapy.
