Merlin Crossley

Merlin Crossley
Academic career
Thesis URL

Merlin Crossley, AM is an Australian molecular biologist, university teacher, and administrator. He is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) Academic Quality at the University of New South Wales.

Early life and career

Crossley attended Mount View Primary School, Glen Waverley, Victoria, then was awarded an entrance scholarship to Melbourne Grammar School, where he was dux. He undertook a Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne, as a resident of Queen's College (University of Melbourne), then a doctorate at the University of Oxford supported by a Rhodes Scholarship at Magdalen College, Oxford. He worked at Oxford, Harvard and the University of Sydney, before moving to UNSW as Dean of Science. In recognition of his service on the Trust of the Australian Museum a new species of butterfly bobtail squid was named in his honour - Iridoteuthis merlini - Merlin's bobtail squid.

University leadership

Crossley has held senior roles at both the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales. He has led the research portfolio, and the teaching portfolio. He is most well known for overseeing the introduction, in 2017, of Education Focussed Careers at University of New South Wales. The idea was to formally recognise that the university relied on academics who were primarily dedicated to teaching and to supporting students. Previously the university had sought to ensure that all academics were 'research active', but now appreciates that a good team requires batters, bowlers, and all-rounders. Academics can be promoted for their work in any area. Many argue that, as well as boosting morale, this change has improved the student experience and even contributed to an uplift in the overall quality of research, as only those committed to research generate outputs.

Research

Crossley is interested in gene regulation. He studied an unusual genetic disorder termed Haemophilia B Leyden where patients recover after puberty. The condition results from mutations that disrupt the control region of the clotting factor IX gene. A testosterone-responsive element accounts for post-pubertal recovery. He has also investigated abnormal patterns of globin gene expression and his work on mutations associated with the lifelong expression of the fetal haemoglobin gene may help in the treatment of thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia. He is using CRISPR-mediated gene editing to introduce beneficial mutations in cell lines as models for treating genetic diseases. Clinical trials by major gene editing companies are now introducing mutations that his lab described.

He is also known for the initial identification and cloning of a significant number of genes encoding DNA-binding proteins: KLF3, KLF8, KLF17, EOS IKZF4, PEGASUS IKZF5, and their associated co-regulators: FOG1 ZFPM1, FOG2 ZFPM2, and CTBP2.

Other activities

He has contributed numerous articles on molecular genetics and education to newspapers and media outlets such as The Conversation (website) and has promoted science communication, for instance as a member of the judging panel for the annual anthology, Best Australian Science Writing. He is Deputy Director of the Australian Science Media Centre (AusSMC), has served on the Trust of the Australian Museum 2012-20 and the Board of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science 2010-15, and is on the Board of, and Chair of the Editorial Board of The Conversation (website).

Honours and awards

• Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia - 2023
• Award for Research Excellence, Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists - 2023
• Lemberg Medal, Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - 2021
• NSW Premier's Prize for Excellence in Medical Biological Sciences - 2020
• Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales - 2014
• Fellow of Queen's College (University of Melbourne) - 2013
• Julian Wells Medal, Lorne Genome Conference - 2010
• Australian Academy of Science Gottschalk Medal - 2002
• Royal Society of New South Wales Sir Edgeworth David Medal - 2000
• Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Roche Medal - 1999
• Rhodes Scholarship 1987 -1990