Rate My Professor Kirsty Danielson

Associate Professor Kirsty Danielson holds the position of Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago, Wellington, and serves as Principal Investigator of the Surgical Cancer Research Group within the Department of Surgery and Critical Care. She completed her Bachelor of Biomedical Science (BBMedSc) and PhD at Victoria University of Wellington. Following her doctorate, Danielson undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, where her research focused on extracellular vesicles and small non-coding RNAs in plasma as functional biomarkers for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. In 2017, she joined the University of Otago, Wellington, as a Lecturer in the Department of Surgery and Anaesthesia, advancing to Associate Professor. She also coordinates the Postgraduate Seminar Series.

Danielson's research specializations encompass extracellular vesicles and RNA as plasma biomarkers for risk stratification, prediction of therapy response in patient cohorts, and elucidation of their functional mechanisms in cellular disease models. Her academic interests include extracellular RNA, microRNA, diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, particularly in colorectal cancer, alongside obesity, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Collaborating with surgeons from the University of Otago and Wellington Hospital, she investigates novel biomarkers in colorectal cancer through the Surgical Cancer Research Group. Key publications include 'Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches' (Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, 2024), 'exRNA atlas analysis reveals distinct extracellular RNA cargo types and their carriers present across human biofluids' (Cell, 2019), 'Small RNA sequencing across diverse biofluids identifies optimal methods for exRNA isolation' (Cell, 2019), 'Circulating extracellular vesicle microRNA as diagnostic biomarkers in early colorectal cancer—A review' (Cancers, 2019), and 'miRNA signatures of insulin resistance in obesity' (Obesity, 2017). Her contributions have advanced the understanding of extracellular RNAs in biofluids and their diagnostic potential.