David Whiteman

WORK HISTORY

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
2000-2003 NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellow
2004-2009 NHMRC Senior Research Fellow
2010-2013 ARC Future Fellow (Senior Level)
2014-2018 NHMRC Principal Research Fellow
University Of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
1998-1999 Nuffield Medical Research Fellow
Queensland Health, Brisbane, Australia
1997 Senior Registrar in Public Health Medicine

CURRENT AREA OF RESEARCH

My early research career focused on the theme sunlight and skin cancer, and I have continued to work in this area for more than two decades. In 2011, I initiated QSkin, the world’s largest prospective study of skin cancer with almost 44,000 participants. This cohort study will measure absolute and relative risks for basal and squamous cell carcinomas (BCC and SCC) and melanoma associated with phenotypic, lifestyle, clinical, and environmental factors, from which to build novel, valid decision tools for doctors and patients. In 2012, my group was awarded a $3.4 million NHMRC project grant to collect DNA samples on all QSkin participants and perform a genome-wide association study – one of the largest studies of its type ever conducted in Australia. The cohort will also measure the impacts of protective behaviours and estimate the burden (mortality, costs, etc.) of skin cancer in Australia. Upon returning from Oxford in 2000, I began to investigate the rapidly rising incidence of oesophageal cancer, and initiated a number of large-scale epidemiological studies in this area. These investigations continue through rewarding collaborations with national (PROBE-NET consortium) and international (BEACON consortium) investigators. More recently, I have taken a broader interest in cancer control, using the data generated from epidemiological studies to develop estimates of cancer burden with a view to informing health policy.