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Overview

Martin KennedyHead of Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science
Director, Carney Centre for Pharmacogenomics
Laboratory Director, Gene Structure and Function Laboratory

BSc(Hons)(Cant), PhD(Auck)

Email martin.kennedy@otago.ac.nzTel +64 3 364 0590

Research interests

Professor Martin Kennedy's main research interests are psychiatric genetics, pharmacogenomics, and the genetics of complex disease.

His current research largely focuses on pharmacogenomics, which aims to understand how drugs and genes interact with the goal of improving drug treatments and reducing adverse drug reactions.  For example, analysis of genetic variation in genes such as those that encode drug metabolising liver enzymes like CYP2D6 and CYP2C19, is helping to determine genetic factors that impact on response to treatments for various diseases.

For a more comprehensive analysis of genetic factors impacting drug response or risks of adverse drug reactions, they are also applying Next Generation DNA sequencing methods including exome sequencing and other genomic approaches to explore drug response phenotypes.

In order to understand severe adverse drug reactions, his lab has developed a biobank for collecting biological samples of people who have suffered such reactions, called UDRUGS. This biobank is growing, and will enhance efforts to understand genetic factors that contribute to severe adverse drug reactions.

Other research interests include work with the Christchurch Health and Development Study looking at genetic contributions to a range of complex human traits, and a study focusing on the genetics of anorexia nervosa.

In addition, Martin's laboratory is examining the impact of G-quadruplex DNA structures and their relevance to genomic imprinting and other aspects of genome biology.

Education

Professor Kennedy obtained his BSc(Hons) at University of Canterbury, and his PhD in bacterial genetics at the University of Auckland, and carried out postdoctoral research in leukaemia genetics at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge (UK) before returning to University of Otago, Christchurch in 1991.

In the media

Professor Martin Kennedy was interviewed for Radio New Zealand's Our Changing World series in May 2013.

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Publications

Turner, A. J., Nofziger, C., Ramey, B. E., Ly, R. C., Bousman, C. A., Agúndez, J. A. G., … Kennedy, M. A., … Gaedigk, A. (2023). PharmVar tutorial on CYP2D6 structural variation testing and recommendations on reporting [Tutorial]. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/cpt.3044

Kee, P. S., Karunanathie, H., Maggo, S. D. S., Kennedy, M. A., & Chua, E. W. (2023). Long-range polymerase chain reaction. In L. Domingues (Ed.), PCR: Methods and protocols: Methods in molecular biology (Vol. 2967). (2nd ed.) (pp. 181-192). New York, NY: Humana. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3358-8_15

Morillon, M. B., Nørup, A., Singh, J. A., Dalbeth, N., Taylor, W. J., Kennedy, M. A., … Grainger, R., … Stamp, L. K. (2023). Outcome reporting in randomized trials in Gout: A systematic scoping review from the OMERACT Gout Working Group assessing the uptake of the core outcome set. Seminars in Arthritis & Rheumatism. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2023.152191

Kee, P. S., Maggo, S. D. S., Kennedy, M. A., & Chin, P. K. L. (2023). The pharmacogenetics of CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 in a case series of antidepressant responses [Brief research report]. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 14, 1080117. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1080117

Cleland, L., Kennedy, H. L., Pettie, M. A., Kennedy, M. A., Bulik, C. M., & Jordan, J. (2023). Eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image research in New Zealand: A scoping review. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11(1), 7. doi: 10.1186/s40337-022-00728-1

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