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Professor Peter Dearden is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Otago's School of Biomedical Sciences. He earned a BSc(Hons) in Genetics and Molecular Biology from Victoria University of Wellington and a PhD in Biochemistry from Imperial College London, focusing on nervous system development in Drosophila melanogaster. Dearden completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Wellcome Institute (now Gurdon Institute) and Museum of Zoology, University of Cambridge, and at Agriculture Canada and the University of Western Ontario. Returning to New Zealand in 2001, he joined the University of Otago, establishing his laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry in 2002. He served as the first Director of Genetics Otago from 2006, has directed Genomics Aotearoa since 2017, building national genomics capability, and was Head of the Department of Biochemistry from February 2023 to March 2026. Promoted to Professor in 2016, Dearden's career emphasizes evolutionary developmental biology and genomics.
Dearden's research explores evolution of developmental pathways, genome evolution, phenotypic plasticity, and genetic control of development in model organisms including Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, honeybees (Apis mellifera), and rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis). His work addresses insect genetics for pest management, such as gene drives for invasive wasps, bee population improvement, and conservation genomics, including sequencing all living kākāpō genomes. Key publications include 'Genome Sequence of the Pea Aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum' (PLoS Biology, 2010), 'The genomes of two key bumblebee species with primitive eusocial organization' (Genome Biology, 2015), 'Population genomics of the critically endangered kākāpō' (Cell Genomics, 2021), 'Epigenetics, plasticity, and evolution: How do we link epigenetic change to phenotype?' (Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B, 2014), and 'Polyphenisms: A developmental perspective' (Development, 2025). Awards include the Genetics Society of AustralAsia Ross Crozier Medal (2014), Callaghan Medal for science communication (2014), Otago School of Medical Sciences Best Paper Award (2010, shared), Best Research Paper by a BMS Researcher (2016), and Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi (2026) for contributions to evolutionary developmental biology.
Four University of Otago professors—Tim Anderson, Michael Baker, John Crump, and Peter Dearden—elected RSNZ Fellows, recognizing leadership in neurology, epidemiology, tropical diseases, and developmental biology.
Explore the latest biogeography study on Argentine stem weevil spread in southern New Zealand, detailing morphological and genetic insights from University of Otago researchers.
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