Dr Fennell is a cancer biologist and laboratory head in the School of Health at the University of the Sunshine Coast. His laboratory interrogates the mechanisms at the intersection of aging and gastrointestinal malignancies. We use a combination of cutting-edge in vitro models and genomic approaches to decipher the intricacies of this relationship. Dr Fennell completed his doctoral and postdoctoral studies under the supervision of A/Prof Whitehall and Prof Leggett at QIMR Berghofer in Brisbane. Here, he leveraged genomic approaches to evaluate the role of age in serrated colorectal neoplasia, showing that aging predisposes to rapid neoplastic transformation. This work was published in leading gastroenterology journals (ie. Gut, CMGH). Prior to commencing at UniSC, Dr Fennell led the Oncogenic Aging Laboratory at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University, Melbourne.
Dr Fennell has published 16 original research articles over the past five years, including high impact articles in field-leading journals including in Gut, Modern Pathology, Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Cell Death and Differentiation.