Dr John Kemp leads the Musculoskeletal Genomics Group at Mater Research. He is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Emerging Leadership Fellow with an interest in genetic epidemiology and musculoskeletal disorders.
Dr Kemp first developed a keen interest in biochemistry and molecular genetics while studying a Bachelor of Science at the University of Pretoria (South Africa). After completing his Honours Degree in molecular genetics, he secured a scholarship from the University of Newcastle (United Kingdom) to study a master’s degree in medical genetics. Dr Kemp was subsequently awarded a Wellcome Trust PhD studentship in molecular genetics and life-course epidemiology from the University of Bristol (United Kingdom).
He duly completed his PhD, focussing on the genetics of osteoporosis, a common and debilitating condition that involves bone loss, leading to skeletal fragility fractures that have associated with increased mortality risk and significant morbidity. Dr Kemp relocated to Australia and gained extensive experience in statistical genetics while working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Queensland. During this time, he published numerous papers on osteoporosis genetics in high impact journals, including Nature Genetics. He is widely recognised as an expert in his field of osteoporosis genomics.
Dr Kemp’s research vision is to accelerate drug development for patients with osteoporosis. To achieve this vision, he has established the Musculoskeletal Genomics Group (MSKG) at Mater Research. Under his guidance, the MSKG is developing innovative ways to combine information from statistical and molecular genetics studies of the skeleton to identify genes that represent drug targets for treating patients with osteoporosis. Research undertaken by MSKG is multidisciplinary, and benefits from established collaborations with clinical specialists, as well as with molecular and cell biologists within and outside of Mater Research.