Can genetic predispositions to health or illness be traced back to what your grandmother ate? That’s just one of the incredible investigations underway in genetics, says a Monash alumna at the frontier of human coding.
Professor Agnes Bankier (MBBS 1973) looks back fondly on her student years.
“In those days med students spent a lot of time together. We had fun and our teachers were amazing – inspirational. Professor Graeme Schofield (Professor of Anatomy and later Dean of Medicine), was a colourful character. I remember him standing in front of the lecture theatre one day waving his arms in the air, saying ‘I am the uterus and these are the fallopian tubes’,” recalls Professor Bankier, now the director of Genetic Health Services Victoria (VCGS).
She married halfway through her Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery degree and completed her residency at Prince Henry’s Hospital. When offered a position within that hospital’s research centre she took up the opportunity with alacrity.
“In my first year residency we worked 100 hours a week. It was very demanding, so many of my subsequent career choices were shaped by my recognition of the need for a work-life balance – a notion that was not acknowledged in those days. If you expressed an interest in your personal life, employers took the attitude that you were not serious about your career,” she says.
After two years at Prince Henry’s, when her daughter was 18 months old, she commenced paediatrics training. During training she became pregnant again.
“I had my son between the written and orals of Part 1. Then once more I was tapped on the shoulder and this time asked if I’d like to train in genetics at the Royal Children’s Hospital”.
The decision to move into the emerging field of genetics research was an excellent career choice. Professor Bankier has made significant contributions, including her involvement in the development of the POSSUM Project, a computerised syndrome information system, now used in more than 50 countries to help diagnose children with birth defects.
She is also interested in medical education and has been instrumental in ensuring that genetics teaching in the Monash MBBS is integrated throughout all years of the curriculum and taught in a clinically relevant way.
Researchers have only begun to unravel the mysteries of the gene, Professor Bankier says.
“Our current knowledge mainly relates to single gene disorders - cystic fibrosis, for example. We’ve always known that health is a mixture of nature and nurture but we didn’t understand the mechanisms that underpin this. In this genome age, we will see advances in the area of pharmacogenomics, for example. We are already aware that some people suffer side effects from certain treatments but are only beginning to understand the way that we metabolise drugs. A slow metabolism can cause toxic side effects and the drug dosage can be adjusted appropriately if preliminary genetic testing reveals the metabolic rate.
“An exciting era is ahead of us, in which we will learn much more about what underpins the nature-nurture framework. Some of this is believed to be the transgenerational effect on health, where effects might be imprinted in utero, not necessarily even during your mother’s pregnancy but maybe related to what your grandmother ate or did when she was pregnant with your mother,” she says.
The VCGS now employs about 150 people. A subsidiary of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, it primarily provides a clinical service, with its network of clinics operating throughout Victoria and Tasmania. Five laboratories provide services such as the new-born and maternal serum screening programs, and chromosome gene testing.
Professor Bankier is fortunate enough to feel passionate about her work, while also managing a private life.
“I love to cook, go cycling, play bridge and have time for my two lovely grandsons. I so much enjoy what I do. I’ve been director of the service for nine years now. It’s fantastic to work with bright, passionate, committed people. Every day has new challenges.”
By Maureen Kutner
