I completed my PhD in 2013 at SBMS, UQ and continued my post-doctoral studies at QIMR-Berghofer and IMB, investigating the genetic control in reproductive disorders, where I investigated the role of gene regulation underlying endometriosis pathogenesis. In 2019, I was appointed in the Woodruff group which studies neuroinflammation, to work on immunotherapy development for cancer, and genomics analyses on brain disease models. My research focuses on understanding the contribution of an individuals’ genetic background to disease immunity. The primary objective of my projects is to discover target genes and putative pathways underlying disease progression, with an ultimate goal to develop potential effective drugs for reproductive and brain disorders.  

Researcher biography

Dr Jenny Fung is a Senior Research Officer in the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBMS). Her research focuses on understanding how multi-omics—including genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics—and immune mechanisms contribute to complex diseases, with the aim of translating laboratory discoveries into improved patient outcomes.

Dr Fung completed her PhD in Endocrinology at The University of Queensland and undertook postdoctoral training at QIMR Berghofer and the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB, UQ) in Professor Grant Montgomery's laboratory. There, she used high-throughput genetic and genomic approaches to uncover key molecular mechanisms underlying endometriosis. In 2019, she joined Professor Trent Woodruff's laboratory, where she expanded her research to neurodegenerative diseases, including motor neuron disease (MND), Huntington's disease (HD), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Her work spans both preclinical and patient-focused studies, including contributions to a Phase Ib clinical trial in MND, the identification of immune and molecular biomarkers in longitudinal patient cohorts, and the evaluation of therapeutic targets using patient-derived cells.

Dr Fung has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers in journals including Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, PNAS, and Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. She is passionate about connecting laboratory discoveries with clinical impact and co-leads projects integrating multi-omics, immunology, and patient-focused research to develop new strategies for treating complex diseases.