Dr Justine Ellis is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Group Leader of Genes, Environment and Complex Disease at Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. She trained as a complex disease geneticist at the University of Melbourne, with her early work focusing on adult diseases and traits. Upon moving to Murdoch Childrens in 2007, she established a multidisciplinary program of research called CLARITY - ChiLdhood Arthritis Risk factor Identification sTudY - along with Dr Jane Munro and other Murdoch Childrens and The Royal Children's Hospital colleagues. The design of CLARITY, which collects clinical, epidemiological and environmental data, along with multiple biospecimen types, recognises the multifactorial nature of diseases such as juvenile arthritis. It aims to individually consider the genetic, environmental and epigenetic factors in determining disease, but also importantly, the interplay between them. With the early support of internal and philanthropic funds, CLARITY has recruited over 1300 participants and has now attracted competitive grant funding from National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council. Dr Ellis also collaborates widely with other research groups working on complex diseases including immune disorders, cardiovascular conditions, and mental health.

Paediatrics,Genes, Environment & Complex Disease