Ms Bronwyn Terrill
Master of Education (specialising in Educational Technologies), Monash University. Research: Exploring opportunities to develop students’ genomic literacy – as a subset of scientific literacy – in Australian secondary schools
Graduate Certificate of Applied Science (Scientific & Technical Writing), Deakin University
Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary: Biology and Chemistry), Monash University
Graduate Diploma in Scientific Communication (Distinction), Australian National University
Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry), University of Queensland, Brisbane
Bronwyn is a science communicator, educator, researcher and writer working in Clinical Translation at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. She focuses on developing strategic approaches to implementation of genomic medicine, often through engaging and educating public and professional audiences. She is an investigator on national projects focused on genomics workforce and education, genetic literacy, teaching with molecular animations, and community engagement with genomics. She has a part time role in Workforce Education with Australian Genomics.
In past roles in Australia, the US and UK, Bronwyn has focused on engaging different audiences with genetics, genomics and molecular biology. She has curated museum exhibitions in Australia, the US and the UK, and developed education programs for school students, teachers, professionals and public audiences. Bronwyn produced award-winning online resources for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Dolan DNA Learning Center on molecular biology, genetics and cancer. She also established and managed the public engagement team for the largest genome centre in Europe, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
Throughout her career, Bronwyn’s focus has shifted between collaborations generating data and experience, directly producing resources, advising on large public projects and enabling researchers in their own public engagement efforts. She has advised on exhibitions for the Science Museum and Natural History Museum in London, and significantly contributed to innovative education and public engagement collaborations, including educational resources, travelling exhibitions and events, alternate reality games, and a range of broadcast media.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Barriers and Enablers to Education on Genomic Health for Primary and High School Students with Intellectual Disability (CI: Iva Strnadová, UNSW seed funding)
MRFF-funded DNAScreen genomic screening study (CI: Paul Lacaze, 2021-2025)
113531 2015-2020 Australian Genomics Health Alliance (BN Terrill Chief Investigator, 1 of 83) Preparing Australia for Genomic Medicine: $25,000,000 (National Health and Medical Research Council). Member of the Program 4 Working Group for Genomic Workforce, Education and Ethics.
Bronwyn became directly involved in research in 2015 in areas that span genetic literacy, genomics education in health, and public expectations of personal genomic tests.
Bronwyn is an investigator on the MRFF-funded DNAScreen genomic screening study (2021-2025). She is also an investigator on a subsection of the geneEQUAL study, researching genomics education in schools for people with intellectual disability. She was an investigator with the Australian Genomics Health Alliance and a member of the Program 4 Working Group for Genomic Workforce, Education and Ethics, funded by the NHMRC for Preparing Australia for Genomic Medicine (113531; 2015-2020) and a partner investigator on the ARC-funded Genioz mixed-methods study (2015-2018 DP 150100597) Understanding the Australian public's expectations of personalised genomics and led the development of evidence-based resources on personal genomic tests.
She is also working on international, national and local collaborations focused on
- community awareness and genetic literacy regarding genomic technologies in genetic screening;
- health professionals' attitudes to and knowledge of pharmacogenomic testing;
- mainstreaming genomic testing;
- teaching with molecular animations; and
- community engagement with genomics and gene editing.