Meet our team
Nikki Freed, PhD
Lead Technologist
Nikki has been working in genomics and genetics for over 20 years. She brings a broad experience in molecular biology to the team. Nikki previously was a Senior Lecturer in Genetics at Massey University, a principal scientist at Novartis in Switzerland, and has worked for the American military detecting respiratory diseases using molecular based methods. Nikki recently co-developed a method for sequencing the genome of COVID-19 that is now used extensively worldwide using both illumina and nanopore sequencing. Nikki also co-founded Daisy Lab, a precision fermentation company based in Auckland.
Kristine Boxen
Senior Technologist
Kristine has been part of the University of Auckland for over 25 years. She is responsible for all sanger sequencing, plasmid sequencing,billing, and outreach at Auckland Genomics.
Paula Shields
Senior Technologist
Paula brings with her a lot of knowledge around cancer genomics and molecular biology after being employed as a Senior Research Technician in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland for nine years in a translational medicine research project (The NetWORK! Project). She has also worked as an application specialist and account manager at Roche Diagnostics and as a science advisor for several years at Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) in New Zealand.
Jieyun Wu, PhD
Technologist
Jieyun completed her PhD in environmental microbiology at the University of Auckland and has worked as a scientist in eDNA biosecurity surveillance at the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). Jieyun has wide ranging expertise in molecular biology, genomics sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. She is proficient in Next-Generation library preparation and sequencing, amplicon sequencing, whole genome sequencing, RNA-sequencing, Clariom assays, and Nanopore sequencing.
Selina Patel
Assistant Technologist
Selina has a MSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences from Auckland University and over 15 years of practical experience working in genomics. Selina has expertise in a range of molecular biology techniques; DNA/RNA isolation from a wide range of sample types including historical specimens, PCR/RT-PCR/qPCR, QC and quantification methods, microsatellite development, genotyping, sanger and next-gen sequencing technologies. Selina works with Auckland Genomics on a part-time basis.
Professor Ant Poole
Academic Lead
Professor Anthony Poole serves as the academic lead at Auckland Genomics. He provides ongoing strategic advice.