Professor Michelle Anne Farrar

Fields of Research (FoR)

Paediatrics, Neurology and Neuromuscular Diseases, Neurosciences, Public Health and Health Services, Genetics, Genomics

SEO tags

Neurodegenerative Disorders Related to Ageing

Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) not elsewhere classified

Biography

Michelle Farrar is Professor of Paediatric Neurology at UNSW Sydney and specialist child neurologist at Sydney Children’s Hospital, leading the rare neurological diseases clinical and research programs.

Michelle’s team is focused on developing and translating innovative ways of providing the best possible care from the time of diagnosis, through treatment and beyond to people with rare neurological conditions, including neuromuscular, neurodegenerative and genetic diseases. The research program also integrates interdisciplinary genomics research, together with community and consumer involvement.

The team is involved in clinical trials investigating potential drug treatments, coupled with studies to define biomarkers to monitor therapeutic effect and genomics in newborn screening.

Society Memberships & Professional Activities:

Member of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists
Member of the Australia and New Zealand Child Neurology Society
Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Treat NMD Neuromuscular Network
Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists Educational and Training EEG and Clinical Neurophysiology Committee member
International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) Member of the Therapies Scientific Committee
Sydney Children’s Hospital Scientific Advisory Committee member for the Human Research Ethics Committee
Member of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee, Childhood Dementia Initiative

My Grants

2021-2027 NRMRC Investigator Grant: Improving health outcomes for neurological diseases in children with genomic technologies

2022-2027 MRFF: A national functional diagnostic program for therapy development in congenital muscle disease

2022-2026 MRFF: NEWBORN GEN SEQ TRAIL: NEWBORN GENomic SEQuencing in screening: Therapy Ready And Information for Life

My Qualifications

MBBS (Hons) FRACP PhD

My Awards

Michelle Beets Memorial Silver Award (2018) NSW Health and Humpty Dumpty Foundation for improving health outcomes for children
Leonard Cox Award, Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists (2017) for contributions to Australian neuroscience

https://med.unsw.edu.au/news/michelle-farrar-recognised-leonard-cox-award

School of Women’s and Children’s Health, UNSW Sydney Best publication award (2017)
Dean’s Rising Star Award, UNSW Medicine, UNSW Sydney (2016)
Asian Oceanian Myology Centre Fellowship award for outstanding presentation (2016)
James Lance Young Investigator Award, Australia and New Zealand Association of Neurologists (2010)

My Research Activities

Prof Farrar is a leading researcher in paediatric neuromuscular and rare neurogenetic disorders, successfully translating research to improve health practice and outcomes for patients, their families and the community. Her multidisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians lead projects to:

Improve early diagnosis and advance genomics in screening
Improve health outcomes for children
Apply genetic technologies for the discovery of novel biomarkers for clinical translation
Develop and implement new therapies
Develop the clinical and translational capability of paediatric precision medicine in neurology
Improve the understanding of patient and family experiences of new and emerging health technologies
Improve the understanding of the ethical and social issues related to emerging health technologies
Rapidly translate evidence into clinical practice and health policy

To undertake this work, Michelle’s team uses a variety of research designs and technologies including:

International multicentre clinical trials
Prospective cohort studies
Cross-sectional studies
In depth qualitative analyses
Systematic reviews of the literature
Implementation science evaluations
Economic evaluations and cost effectiveness analyses
Clinical and neurophysiological assessments
Cutting-edge high-throughput genomic sequencing

Michelle’s team also applies their clinical research approach to other neurological conditions, such as neurodevelopmental disorders, epilepsy and neuro-oncology and are passionate about creating an environment where people affected by these disorders are actively involved across all stages and types of research.

Michelle also has a strong commitment to improving the practice of medicine, thus connecting her research achievements to her activities in medical education and community and consumer engagement. As a regular contributor to the media, Professor Farrar is raising awareness in the community about early diagnosis and treatment of paediatric neuromuscular disorders and possibilities for carrier screening to allow couples to make reproductive choices.