Professor Jennifer Byrne named in Nature journal's top 10
Professor Jennifer Byrne from the Sydney Medical School and Children’s Hospital at Westmead has been the only Australian researcher named in the prestigious journal Nature’s Top 10 researchers of 2017.
The Professor of Molecular Oncology released a report earlier this year, identifying suspect research papers that could mislead researchers working on cancer treatments.
“Being named as one of Nature’s 10 is great recognition of our work, and of the importance of taking active steps to improve the reliability of the biomedical research literature,” Professor Byrne said.
“Published errors hold back research progress and translation. We are trying to reduce the source of some of these errors, particularly in the cancer research literature which is my field of expertise.”
Professor Byrne and her team’s research aims to improve the accuracy of results published in reports to ensure further studies are not compromised.
“Our research focusses on the incorrect reporting and use of particular experimental reagents that are commonly used in cancer research publications.
“Scientists need a better understanding of these types of errors, so that they can avoid wasting time and money by inadvertently following up incorrect results.”
As part of her research, Professor Byrne works with the Post-Truth Initiative led by Professor Nick Enfield which advises on how the truth might survive in a climate of fake news and alternative facts.