South African born geneticist Professor Vanessa Hayes has been awarded the MJD White Medal, commemorating renowned geneticist Michael White, for significant work in the field of genetics by the Genetics Society of Australasia.

Hayes’s humble beginnings in the Western Cape led her to research steeped in sequencing the first African genomes, which included those of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Her research employs variations in the human genome to define human origins and evolution, with an emphasis on how genome variation triggers and defines treatment for prostate cancer.

Commendably, Professor Vanessa Hayes has led multiple studies in Southern Africa including the first team to profile African and indigenous personalised genomes in 2010, founding the largest African prostate cancer database and bioresource, all while leading the first whole prostate cancer genome profiling to include the African continent. Her study combined the power of genomic data, with regionally relevant geographic and climate data, to pinpoint a shared human homeland in current-day Botswana giving credence to first human migrations with roots in Africa.

Professor Hayes’s belief in that Southern Africa holds insights into early human beginnings has allowed her to map genomic diversity that has Africa and Africans as a key part of the genomic revolution.

Hayes is an Extraordinary Professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria and heads up the Laboratory for Human Comparative and Prostate Cancer Genomics at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. Hayes holds the Petre Chair of Prostate Cancer Research at the University of Sydney and is an Honorary Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Limpopo.

As the Scientific Director of the Diversity inclusive Genome Study for Southern Africa (DiGS-SA) and the Southern African Prostate Cancer Study (SAPCS), Professor Hayes maintains that answers about the genetics of disease lie in the ability to fully grasp the genetic diversity of the modern human ancestry. She is a supporter of interdisciplinary studies that may include linguistics and anthropology, geology, archaeology, historical accounts, and climate physics combined with genomics data to paint a clearer picture of the genetics of disease.

Professor Hays’ passion for Interdisciplinary Scientific Research has earned her a nomination for the 2020 University of New South Wales Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research.