Associate Professor Judith Flanagan obtained her BSc (Hons) from Sydney University majoring in Genetics and Biochemistry. She then worked in California as part of the International Human Genome Project that delivered the first complete human genome. Returning to Sydney, Judith completed her PhD at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research focussing on the molecular biology of human steroid receptors, and took up a Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley where she fell in love with environmental microbiology. Following on from her Postdoc, Judith took up an Assistant Professorship at the University of California, San Francisco where she was able to combine her research experience of both human medical research and environmental research in modelling the ecosystems of human disease.

In 2007 she returned to Sydney to take up the position of Scientific Writer for the Brien Holden Vision Institute Ltd. and in 2015 she moved back into research, heading up the Ocular Comfort Program.

Judith currently consults for Vision CRC, USA and is a deputy editor for the Medical Journal of Australia. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed publications, two book chapters, and numerous trade journal articles. Judith also has a Diploma in Science Education and is a certified editor through the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS).