Dylan J Kiltschewskij Australian Epigenetics Alliance Conference 2022

Dylan J Kiltschewskij

ylan Kiltschewskij is a postdoctoral research fellow in Professor Murray Cairns’ complex disorder group. He obtained a Bachelor of Biomedical Science with First Class Honours from The University of Newcastle in 2015 and has since completed his PhD in Medical Genetics. Dylan’s research aims to explore and characterise the nexus between fundamental neuroscience, genetics and psychiatric disorders through implementation of multidimensional high-throughput molecular techniques, systems biology and statistical genetics. Dylan’s present work is focussed on leveraging large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to infer the effect of biochemical exposures on brain structure to identify putative relationships relevant to psychiatric disorders and explore potential drug repurposing opportunities. Dylan is also currently utilizing DNA methylation signals in conjunction with genetic data to refine the identification of individuals with a high burden of genetic and epigenetic risk for schizophrenia, as well as severe cognitive subtypes. Since joining the Cairns lab as an Honours student, Dylan has additionally conducted and published studies exploring the mechanistic basis of microRNA and other noncoding RNAs in neuronal cells by employing a range of RNA sequencing methods, including mRNA-Seq, small RNA-Seq, Ribosome Profiling and Poly(A)-tail sequencing. Collectively, these studies have enabled Dylan to develop expertise in a range of experimental, bioinformatic and statistical techniques, as well as a passion for scientific communication via conferences and social media.