Mark Cowley

PhD

Sydney, Australia

Children's Cancer Institute

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About

Associate Professor

Children's Cancer Institute

Mark Cowley is a computational biologist, whose main expertise is in genomics and precision medicine. Mark is best known for his translational bioinformatics research, having led the development of clinical-grade whole genome analysis, which has now been commercialised, and developed into one of the first whole-genome-sequencing-based pathology tests in the world. By developing the digital infrastructure that underpins the Zero Childhood Cancer clinical trial, Mark and his multi-disciplinary group are attempting to bridge the gap from vast amounts of molecular data to improved health outcomes, through making molecularly-informed treatment decisions in real-time, for children with high-risk or rare cancers. Mark’s research group is also investigating the impact of ‘non-coding mutations’ of children with cancer – mutations that occur in parts of the genome that don’t encode genes yet are thought to be important in other ways.

Expertise

Data Science

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Children's Cancer Institute

Sydney, Australia

research

Interests

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Craniopharyngioma

Childhood craniopharyngiomas are rare tumors usually found near the pituitary gland (a pea-sized organ at the bottom of the brain that controls other glands) and the hypothalamus (a small cone-shaped organ connected to the pituitary gland by nerves).Craniopharyngiomas are usually part solid mass and

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Medulloblastoma

Medulloblastomas comprises the vast majority of pediatric embryonal tumors and by definition arise in the posterior fossa, where they constitute approximately 40% of all posterior fossa tumors. Other forms of embryonal tumors each make up 2% or less of all childhood brain tumors.The clinical feature

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High-Grade Glioma

High-grade Gliomas (HGG) or astrocytomas in children nearly always result in a dismal prognosis. Although novel therapeutic approaches are currently in development, preclinical testing has been limited, due to a lack of pediatric-specific HGG preclinical models. These models are needed to help test

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Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor

Central nervous system (CNS) atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) is a very rare, fast-growing tumor of the brain and spinal cord. It usually occurs in children aged three years and younger, although it can occur in older children and adults. About half of these tumors form in the cerebellum or

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Low-Grade Glioma

Low-Grade Gliomas also called astrocytomas are the most common cancer of the central nervous system in children. They represent a heterogeneous group of tumors that can be discovered anywhere within the brain or spinal cord. Although surgical resection may be curative, up to 20% of children still su

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