Dr Feargal Ryan

Dr. Feargal J. Ryan is an NHMRC Investigator and head of the Computational Multi-Omics group at Flinders University. Dr. Ryan has extensive expertise in systems biology and multi-omics data to study disease mechanisms. Their research spans multiple fields, including various cancers, long COVID, viral infections (Zika virus, SARS-CoV2), and faecal microbiota transplantation among others. Dr. Ryan has led studies analysing microbiome and transcriptome data from thousands of patients across Europe, North America, and Australia, with a focus on Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Colorectal Cancer, and recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. They have also developed highly cited computational tools and reproducible protocols for genomic data analysis.

Dr Ryan has been a CI/AI on over >$4 million of research funding has co-authored over 40 papers (>4,800 citations, h-index = 22, Google Scholar as of November 2024) including in top journals such as Science, Gut, and Nature Microbiology.

Dr. Ryan is dedicated advocate for bioinformatics research and building bioinformatics capacity in Australia. As a two-time postdoctoral representative and now Vice-President of the Australian Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Society (ABACBS, >1,200 members), he is actively involved in fostering national initiatives that advance the field