Mitchell Stark

Dr Mitchell Stark is a molecular biologist and Group Leader/Senior Research Fellow from the Dermatology Research Centre (DRC) based at the Frazer Institute. His group has extensive experience in microRNA biology and biomarker discovery, next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics, and functional analysis for a variety of applications. The Stark Lab’s major research streams include: miRNA biomarkers for melanoma progression and the development a Genomics Atlas of pre-skin cancer lesions, which aim to provide insight into the early progression of melanoma and keratinocyte cancer, to aid in preventing invasive skin cancer formation and offer increased precision to the clinical management of patients.

Dr Stark completed his PhD (2015) in melanoma microRNA biomarkers at The Queensland University of Technology based at the QIMR Berghofer (QIMRB) Medical Research Institute. Prior to commencing his PhD, he worked as Senior Research Assistant (since 1999) and was trained and mentored in the Hayward lab (QIMRB) where he contributed to and led some seminal findings in the melanoma genetics/genomics field. Dr Stark joined the DRC in 2015 and in 2016 he was awarded a prestigious NHMRC Peter Doherty Early Career Fellowship to lead a pre-melanoma genomics program. Dr Stark has a career total of 80+ publications (h-index 35) including 1 patent and has published in respected journals such as Nature, Nature Genetics, Cancer Research, and Journal of Investigative Dermatology.