Vanessa Hayes

Vanessa Hayes is a South African-Australian geneticist conducting research into cancer genomics and comparative human genomics. She leads a research group at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney Australia and holds the Petre Chair of Prostate Cancer Research at the University of Sydney.

Early life and education Hayes was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She undertook BSc and Masters education at Stellenbosch University In 1999 she completed PhD studies in cancer genetics at the University of Groningen, Netherlands.

Career Hayes' first research position was at Stellenbosch University, investigating genetic susceptibility to HIV/AIDS. Her work identified the lack of knowledge about African gene variants that hindered pharmacogenomics research, including into the efficacy of HIV treatments.

In 2003, Hayes moved to Sydney, Australia, to lead research into cancer genetics at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. She subsequently joined the Children's Cancer Institute of Australia (CCIA)

While at the CCIA, Hayes worked on the South African Genome Project with researchers from the University of New South Wales and Penn State University in the US to compile the genome sequences of southern Africans, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Until this research, most human genome sequences had been derived from people of European origin. Hayes and her collaborators revealed in 2010 that the genetic diversity among people in southern Africa is greater than among other populations worldwide.

In 2010, Hayes joined the J. Craig Venter Institute in San Diego, California, US, where she continued her research into human genetic diversity.

In 2011, Hayes was part of a research team that released details of Tasmanian devil population genetics, part of the research efforts towards understanding the devil facial tumour disease

Hayes's research also includes the study of prostate cancer genetics. One aspect has been investigating the genetic causes of aggressive prostate cancer that is seen in men of African ancestry

Media appearances On Tuesday 23 February 2016 ABC broadcast an episode of Catalyst entitled 'Out of Africa' which explored Hayes's comparative genomics work in southern Africa.

On Tuesday 23 October 2017, Hayes appeared on SBS Insight's “DNA Surprises ” episode which dealt with the complex issues around ancestry testing through online companies, and particularly the unexpected information ancestry testing can uncover.

Awards and recognition 2006 – BNP Paribas Award for Cancer Genetics 2007 – Australian Young Tall Poppy Award for Science 2007 – NSW Premier's Award for Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow 2008 – Ruth Stephens Gani Medal for Human Genetics, Australian Academy of Science 2009 – Fulbright professional scholarship