People_

Dr Belinda Wright

BA, BSc (Hons), PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Koala Health Hub

Phone

+61 2 9036 4722

Email

belinda.wright@sydney.edu.au

Biographical details

Dr Belinda Wright’s research is broadly focussed on conservation of Australia’s threatened species. Belinda’s research uses genomic techniques to address conservation questions to improve management of species. She has used a range of approaches to investigate the impact of disease on some of Australia's most iconic threatened species such as the koala and the Tasmanian devil. Koala populations face numerous challenges, including a range of disease threats that are currently not well understood. Better understanding disease dynamics in koala populations will inform management strategies and improve outcomes for the species.

Research interests

With a strong interest in wildlife health and disease, Belinda seeks ways to best apply emerging genomic technologies to address the disease challenges facing Australia’s wildlife, with the aim of improving outcomes for threatened populations. Belinda is interested in host-pathogen-environment interactions and understanding how different factors shape and impact populations and their ability to respond to disease challenges.

Awards and honours

National Computational Infrastructure – Adapter Scheme, 2023/2024
Wildlife Disease Association Australia – Research Award, 2023
Sydney Informatics Hub HPC Publication Award, University of Sydney, 2017
Faculty of Veterinary Science Post-graduate conference faculty prize (highest ranked publication), University of Sydney, 2015
Australian Post-graduate Award, 2012
University of Sydney Merit Award, 2012
Bill Cantwell Prize for Biological Sciences, Honours program, Macquarie University, 2011

Current research students

Project title	Research student
The role of host genetics in chlamydial disease and chlamydial vaccine response in koalas	Alana KIDD

Publications

By Type

Expand all

Book Chapters

Wright, B., Ujvari, B., Deakin, J., Murchison, E., Belov, K. (2019). Revealing the origin and evolutionary trajectory of DFTD using genetics and genomics. In Carolyn Hogg, Samantha Fox, David Pemberton, Katherine Belov (Eds.), Saving the Tasmanian Devil: Recovery through Science-based Management, (pp. 31-46). Clayton South: CSIRO Publishing. [More Information]
Wright, B., Lillie, M., Belov, K. (2015). Marsupials and Monotremes in the Genomics Era. In Athol Klieve, Lindsay Hogan, Stephen Johnson, Peter Murray (Eds.), Marsupials and Monotremes Nature's Enigmatic Mammals, (pp. 33-52). New York: Nova Science Publishers.

Journals

Wright, B., Casteriano, A., Muir, Y., Hulse, L., Simpson, S., Legione, A., Vaz, P., Devlin, J., Krockenberger, M., Higgins, D. (2024). Expanding the known distribution of phascolartid gammaherpesvirus 1 in koalas to populations across Queensland and New South Wales. Scientific Reports, 14(1). [More Information]
Wright, B., Jelocnik, M., Casteriano, A., Muir, Y., Legione, A., Vaz, P., Devlin, J., Higgins, D. (2023). Development of diagnostic and point of care assays for a gammaherpesvirus infecting koalas. PloS One, 18(2024-06-06 00:00:00). [More Information]
Odewahn, R., Wright, B., Czirjak, G., Higgins, D. (2022). Differences in constitutive innate immunity between divergent Australian marsupials. Developmental and Comparative Immunology, 132, Article number 104399-1-Article number 104399-9. [More Information]
Lott, M., Wright, B., Neaves, L., Frankham, G., Dennison, S., Eldridge, M., Potter, S., Alquezar-Planas, D., Hogg, C., Belov, K., et al (2022). Future-proofing the koala: Synergising genomic and environmental data for effective species management. Molecular Ecology, 31(11), 3035-3055. [More Information]
Wright, A., Anson, J., Leo, V., Wright, B., Newsome, T., Grueber, C. (2022). Urban restoration of common species: population genetics of reintroduced native bush rats Rattus fuscipes in Sydney, Australia. Animal Conservation. [More Information]
Wright, B., Hogg, C., McLennan, E., Belov, K., Grueber, C. (2021). Assessing evolutionary processes over time in a conservation breeding program: a combined approach using molecular data, simulations and pedigree analysis. Biodiversity and Conservation, 30(4), 1011-1029. [More Information]
Brandies, P., Wright, B., Hogg, C., Grueber, C., Belov, K. (2021). Characterization of reproductive gene diversity in the endangered Tasmanian devil. Molecular Ecology Resources, 21(3), 721-732. [More Information]
Grueber, C., Farquharson, K., Wright, B., Wallis, G., Hogg, C., Belov, K. (2021). First evidence of deviation from Mendelian proportions in a conservation programme. Molecular Ecology, 30(15), 3703-3715. [More Information]
Silver, L., Hogg, C., Wright, B., Grueber, C. (2021). Genomics for conservation: a case study of behavioral genes in the Tasmanian devil. Conservation Genetics, 22(3), 499-512. [More Information]
Wright, B., Farquharson, K., McLennan, E., Belov, K., Hogg, C., Grueber, C. (2020). A demonstration of conservation genomics for threatened species management. Molecular Ecology Resources, 20(6), 1526-1541. [More Information]
Lott, M., Wright, B., Kemp, L., Johnson, R., Hogg, C. (2020). Genetic Management of Captive and Reintroduced Bilby Populations. Journal of Wildlife Management, 84(1), 20-32. [More Information]
Grueber, C., Peel, E., Wright, B., Hogg, C., Belov, K. (2019). A Tasmanian devil breeding program to support wild recovery. Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 31(7), 1296-1304. [More Information]
Hogg, C., Wright, B., Morris, K., Lee, A., Ivy, J., Grueber, C., Belov, K. (2019). Founder relationships and conservation management: empirical kinships reveal the effect on breeding programmes when founders are assumed to be unrelated. Animal Conservation, 22(4), 348-361. [More Information]
Wright, B., Farquharson, K., McLennan, E., Belov, K., Hogg, C., Grueber, C. (2019). From reference genomes to population genomics: comparing three reference-aligned reduced-representation sequencing pipelines in two wildlife species. BMC Genomics, 20(1), 1-10. [More Information]
Wright, B., Grueber, C., Lott, M., Belov, K., Johnson, R., Hogg, C. (2019). Impact of reduced-representation sequencing protocols on detecting population structure in a threatened marsupial. Molecular Biology Reports, 46(5), 5575-5580. [More Information]
McLennan, E., Wright, B., Belov, K., Hogg, C., Grueber, C. (2019). Too much of a good thing? Finding the most informative genetic data set to answer conservation questions. Molecular Ecology Resources, 19(3), 659-671. [More Information]
Johnson, R., O'Meally, D., Chen, Z., Etherington, G., Ho, S., Nash, W., Grueber, C., Cheng, Y., Whittington, C., Dennison, S., Peel, E., Brandies, P., Hogg, C., Govendir, M., Jones, E., Wright, B., Belov, K., et al (2018). Adaptation and conservation insights from the koala genome. Nature Genetics, 50(8), 1102-1111. [More Information]
Wright, B., Willet, C., Hamede, R., Jones, M., Belov, K., Wade, C. (2017). Variants in the host genome may inhibit tumour growth in devil facial tumours: evidence from genomewide association. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1. [More Information]
Machovsky-Capuska, G., Senior, A., Benn, E., Tait, A., Schuckard, R., Stockin, K., Cook, W., Ogle, M., Barna, K., Melville, D., Wright, B., Raubenheimer, D., et al (2016). Sex-specific macronutrient foraging strategies in a highly successful marine predator: the Australasian gannet. Marine Biology, 163(4), 1-14. [More Information]
Wright, B., Morris, K., Grueber, C., Willet, C., Gooley, R., Hogg, C., O'Meally, D., Hamede, R., Jones, M., Wade, C., Belov, K. (2015). Development of a SNP-based assay for measuring genetic diversity in the Tasmanian devil insurance population. BMC Genomics, 16(791), 1-11. [More Information]
Morris, K., Wright, B., Grueber, C., Hogg, C., Belov, K. (2015). Lack of genetic diversity across diverse immune genes in an endangered mammal, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii). Molecular Ecology, 24, 3860-3872. [More Information]
Ujvari, B., Fisher, P., Rydell, J., Wahlgren, R., Wright, B., Madsen, T. (2015). Population demography of frillneck lizards (Chlamydosaurus kingii, Gray 1825) in the wet-dry tropics of Australia. Austral Ecology, 40(1), 60-66. [More Information]
Lane, A., Cheng, Y., Wright, B., Hamede, R., Levan, L., Jones, M., Ujvari, B., Belov, K. (2012). New Insights into the Role of MHC Diversity in Devil Facial Tumour Disease. PloS One, 7(6), 1-9. [More Information]

show 20 more

Conferences

Lane, A., Cheng, Y., Wright, B. (2013). New insights into the role of MHC diversity in Devil Facial Tumour Disease. Genetics Society of AustralAsia Inc Annual Conference Sydney - Genetics in the Harbour City, Sydney: Genetics Society of AustralAsia, Inc.
Wright, B., Willet, C., Hogg, C., Hamede, R., Jones, M., Wade, C., Belov, K. (2013). Using next generation sequencing to develop a genotyping assay for the Tasmanian devil. Genetics Society of AustralAsia Inc Annual Conference Sydney - Genetics in the Harbour City, Sydney: Genetics Society of AustralAsia, Inc.

By Year

Expand all

2024

Wright, B., Casteriano, A., Muir, Y., Hulse, L., Simpson, S., Legione, A., Vaz, P., Devlin, J., Krockenberger, M., Higgins, D. (2024). Expanding the known distribution of phascolartid gammaherpesvirus 1 in koalas to populations across Queensland and New South Wales. Scientific Reports, 14(1). [More Information]

2023

Wright, B., Jelocnik, M., Casteriano, A., Muir, Y., Legione, A., Vaz, P., Devlin, J., Higgins, D. (2023). Development of diagnostic and point of care assays for a gammaherpesvirus infecting koalas. PloS One, 18(2024-06-06 00:00:00). [More Information]

2022

Odewahn, R., Wright, B., Czirjak, G., Higgins, D. (2022). Differences in constitutive innate immunity between divergent Australian marsupials. Developmental and Comparative Immunology, 132, Article number 104399-1-Article number 104399-9. [More Information]
Lott, M., Wright, B., Neaves, L., Frankham, G., Dennison, S., Eldridge, M., Potter, S., Alquezar-Planas, D., Hogg, C., Belov, K., et al (2022). Future-proofing the koala: Synergising genomic and environmental data for effective species management. Molecular Ecology, 31(11), 3035-3055. [More Information]
Wright, A., Anson, J., Leo, V., Wright, B., Newsome, T., Grueber, C. (2022). Urban restoration of common species: population genetics of reintroduced native bush rats Rattus fuscipes in Sydney, Australia. Animal Conservation. [More Information]

2021

Wright, B., Hogg, C., McLennan, E., Belov, K., Grueber, C. (2021). Assessing evolutionary processes over time in a conservation breeding program: a combined approach using molecular data, simulations and pedigree analysis. Biodiversity and Conservation, 30(4), 1011-1029. [More Information]
Brandies, P., Wright, B., Hogg, C., Grueber, C., Belov, K. (2021). Characterization of reproductive gene diversity in the endangered Tasmanian devil. Molecular Ecology Resources, 21(3), 721-732. [More Information]
Grueber, C., Farquharson, K., Wright, B., Wallis, G., Hogg, C., Belov, K. (2021). First evidence of deviation from Mendelian proportions in a conservation programme. Molecular Ecology, 30(15), 3703-3715. [More Information]
Silver, L., Hogg, C., Wright, B., Grueber, C. (2021). Genomics for conservation: a case study of behavioral genes in the Tasmanian devil. Conservation Genetics, 22(3), 499-512. [More Information]

show 1 more

2020

Wright, B., Farquharson, K., McLennan, E., Belov, K., Hogg, C., Grueber, C. (2020). A demonstration of conservation genomics for threatened species management. Molecular Ecology Resources, 20(6), 1526-1541. [More Information]
Lott, M., Wright, B., Kemp, L., Johnson, R., Hogg, C. (2020). Genetic Management of Captive and Reintroduced Bilby Populations. Journal of Wildlife Management, 84(1), 20-32. [More Information]

2019

Grueber, C., Peel, E., Wright, B., Hogg, C., Belov, K. (2019). A Tasmanian devil breeding program to support wild recovery. Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 31(7), 1296-1304. [More Information]
Hogg, C., Wright, B., Morris, K., Lee, A., Ivy, J., Grueber, C., Belov, K. (2019). Founder relationships and conservation management: empirical kinships reveal the effect on breeding programmes when founders are assumed to be unrelated. Animal Conservation, 22(4), 348-361. [More Information]
Wright, B., Farquharson, K., McLennan, E., Belov, K., Hogg, C., Grueber, C. (2019). From reference genomes to population genomics: comparing three reference-aligned reduced-representation sequencing pipelines in two wildlife species. BMC Genomics, 20(1), 1-10. [More Information]
Wright, B., Grueber, C., Lott, M., Belov, K., Johnson, R., Hogg, C. (2019). Impact of reduced-representation sequencing protocols on detecting population structure in a threatened marsupial. Molecular Biology Reports, 46(5), 5575-5580. [More Information]
Wright, B., Ujvari, B., Deakin, J., Murchison, E., Belov, K. (2019). Revealing the origin and evolutionary trajectory of DFTD using genetics and genomics. In Carolyn Hogg, Samantha Fox, David Pemberton, Katherine Belov (Eds.), Saving the Tasmanian Devil: Recovery through Science-based Management, (pp. 31-46). Clayton South: CSIRO Publishing. [More Information]
McLennan, E., Wright, B., Belov, K., Hogg, C., Grueber, C. (2019). Too much of a good thing? Finding the most informative genetic data set to answer conservation questions. Molecular Ecology Resources, 19(3), 659-671. [More Information]

show 3 more

2018

Johnson, R., O'Meally, D., Chen, Z., Etherington, G., Ho, S., Nash, W., Grueber, C., Cheng, Y., Whittington, C., Dennison, S., Peel, E., Brandies, P., Hogg, C., Govendir, M., Jones, E., Wright, B., Belov, K., et al (2018). Adaptation and conservation insights from the koala genome. Nature Genetics, 50(8), 1102-1111. [More Information]

2017

Wright, B., Willet, C., Hamede, R., Jones, M., Belov, K., Wade, C. (2017). Variants in the host genome may inhibit tumour growth in devil facial tumours: evidence from genomewide association. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1. [More Information]

2016

Machovsky-Capuska, G., Senior, A., Benn, E., Tait, A., Schuckard, R., Stockin, K., Cook, W., Ogle, M., Barna, K., Melville, D., Wright, B., Raubenheimer, D., et al (2016). Sex-specific macronutrient foraging strategies in a highly successful marine predator: the Australasian gannet. Marine Biology, 163(4), 1-14. [More Information]

2015

Wright, B., Morris, K., Grueber, C., Willet, C., Gooley, R., Hogg, C., O'Meally, D., Hamede, R., Jones, M., Wade, C., Belov, K. (2015). Development of a SNP-based assay for measuring genetic diversity in the Tasmanian devil insurance population. BMC Genomics, 16(791), 1-11. [More Information]
Morris, K., Wright, B., Grueber, C., Hogg, C., Belov, K. (2015). Lack of genetic diversity across diverse immune genes in an endangered mammal, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii). Molecular Ecology, 24, 3860-3872. [More Information]
Wright, B., Lillie, M., Belov, K. (2015). Marsupials and Monotremes in the Genomics Era. In Athol Klieve, Lindsay Hogan, Stephen Johnson, Peter Murray (Eds.), Marsupials and Monotremes Nature's Enigmatic Mammals, (pp. 33-52). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Ujvari, B., Fisher, P., Rydell, J., Wahlgren, R., Wright, B., Madsen, T. (2015). Population demography of frillneck lizards (Chlamydosaurus kingii, Gray 1825) in the wet-dry tropics of Australia. Austral Ecology, 40(1), 60-66. [More Information]

show 1 more

2013

Lane, A., Cheng, Y., Wright, B. (2013). New insights into the role of MHC diversity in Devil Facial Tumour Disease. Genetics Society of AustralAsia Inc Annual Conference Sydney - Genetics in the Harbour City, Sydney: Genetics Society of AustralAsia, Inc.
Wright, B., Willet, C., Hogg, C., Hamede, R., Jones, M., Wade, C., Belov, K. (2013). Using next generation sequencing to develop a genotyping assay for the Tasmanian devil. Genetics Society of AustralAsia Inc Annual Conference Sydney - Genetics in the Harbour City, Sydney: Genetics Society of AustralAsia, Inc.

2012

Lane, A., Cheng, Y., Wright, B., Hamede, R., Levan, L., Jones, M., Ujvari, B., Belov, K. (2012). New Insights into the Role of MHC Diversity in Devil Facial Tumour Disease. PloS One, 7(6), 1-9. [More Information]

Selected Grants

2023

Validating and extending the use of koala fur as sample to predict population health, Wright B, Wildlife Disease Association - Australasian Section/Research Award