Peter Johansson
Dr | Senior Research Officer
+61 7 3362 0323Peter.Johansson@qimrberghofer.edu.au
CAREER HISTORY
Dr Johansson has more than 20 years experience developing computational methods to distil and interpret large amounts of biological data. During his PhD studies he applied machine learning techniques on gene expression data to dissect the molecular architecture of cancers such as melanoma and breast cancer. In 2007 he was given the opportunity to join the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA and deepen his knowledge in cancer genomics. In 2012 he joined the Oncogenomics Group at QIMR Berghofer, where he has continued his work on cancer genomics, primarily melanoma.
CURRENT APPOINTMENTS
2021-current: Senior Research Officer, Oncogenomics Group, QIMR Berghofer
2014-current: Honorary Fellow, School of Medicine, University of Queensland
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS
2012-2021: Research Officer, Oncogenomics Group, QIMR Berghofer
2007-2012: NIH Visiting Fellow, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA
2007: Software Developer, SCIBLU Bioinformatics Centre, Lund, Sweden
ORCID NUMBER
RESEARCHER ID
K-1053-2014
CURRENT AREA OF RESEARCH
Dr Johansson is a core member of the Australian Melanoma Genome Project, characterising the landscape of somatic mutations and chromosomal aberrations in melanoma tumours. In addition, he is involved in the group’s work to identify melanoma predisposition genes and particularly interested in how to improve the computational methods used to identify the genetic variation causing the increased risk in high-density melanoma families.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
- Played a key role in the largest whole-genome study on melanoma, highlighting some major genomic differences between cutaneous, acral, and mucosal melanoma (Nature, 2017; Nature Communications, 2019; Nature Communications 2020)
- Led the study discovering that iris melanoma harbour mutations induced by ultraviolet radiation (Nature Communications, 2020)
- Led the study reporting that PLCB4 is recurrently mutated in uveal melanoma (Oncotarget, 2016)
- Led the study confirming the association between MBD4 mutation and response to immunotherapy (Immunogentics, 2019)
- Contributed to the identification of POT1, ACD and TERF2IP as high penetrance familial melanoma genes (Nature Genetics, 2014; JNCI, 2016)
AWARDS RECOGNITION
2019: Invited Speaker, Brisbane Cancer Conference, Brisbane
2011: Invited Speaker, Applied and Computational Mathematics Division Seminar Series, National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA
2011: Selected Speaker, 11th Center for Cancer Research Fellows and Young Investigators Colloquium, USA
2010: Top 2% Highly Rated Poster, American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting
2006: Invited Speaker, Friday Seminar Series, Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
2006: Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Sweden
2001: Master of Science, Department of Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Sweden