Professor David BoothPrincipal Research Fellow; Medicine, Westmead Clinical School; The Westmead Institute for Medical Research - Immunogenetics Group

 Phone8627 3602

 Emaildavid.booth(at)sydney.edu.au

Prof David Booth received his PhD from the University of London in 1993 and has since worked on the genetics of human diseases such as amyloidosis, periodic fevers, multiple sclerosis (MS) and hepatitis C.  His postdoctoral work, which examined amyloidosis, was conducted at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and the Royal Free Hospital in London.  He returned to Australia in 2001 to join Prof Stewart at the Westmead Institute’s Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research to study MS genetics.  In international collaborations, the first 110 genes affecting MS have now been discovered, and this work has been published in Nature (2011) and Nature Genetics (2013).

Genetics, Autoimmunity, Hepatitis, Multiple sclerosis, Genetic diseases

Infection and Immunological Conditions, Neurosciences and Mental Health

His main research goal is to find clinical applications for MS genetic discoveries, especially to find molecular biomarkers to aid clinical management of MS, including for therapeutic response. Notably, his group has now identified three immune cell types of MS, and is testing their clinical applicability.  They have also identified the likely mechanism for the association of the vitamin D genes with MS, and are investigating how to use this information to better use the vitamin D pathway to reduce MS risk.  His group aims to translate their genetic discoveries in other diseases, notably chronic hepatitis C disease, into clinical practice. They provide a genetic testing service based on their research findings for drug response for this disease, and for familial amyloidosis.

Sydney Medical School > Westmead Clinical School > Westmead Clinical School

• Covaris Evolution Adaptive Focused Acoustic Ultrasonicator for enhancement of cancer research within the Sydney West Hub; Graham J, Clarke C, Mann G, deFazio A, George J, Liddle C, Booth D, Sintchenko V; Cancer Institute New South Wales/Equipment Grant.
• Investigating the role of Epstein-Barr virus encoded microRNAs (miRNAs) in B cells, NK cells and T cells for conferring risk in developing multiple sclerosis; Swaminathan S, Booth D; Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia/Incubator Grant.
• Using MS Susceptibility genes to understand the role of EBV in MS pathogenesis; McKay F, Booth D; Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia/Incubator Grant.
• Translation of genetic, genomic and transcriptomic discoveries into clinical practice; Booth D; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Career Awards: Research Fellowships.
• Safety and biological efficacy of narrow-band UVB phototherapy in ALS; Vucic S, Byrne S, Stewart G, Fernandez Penas P, Booth D, McKay F, Menon P, Turner B; Motor Neurone Disease Research Institute of Australia/Grants in aid.

• M.Sc., Biology, University of Sydney, Sydney
• PhD, Biochemistry, Imperial College, University of London, UK