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Draft:Azure Hermes

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Azure Hermes is a Gimuy Walubara Yidinji woman[1] who works at the intersection of genomics and indigenous community engagement. As the deputy director of the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics (NCIG) at Australian National University[2], she explains the science of genetics and genomics to indigenous communities across Australia as well as the implications of the NCIG's collection of 7,000 blood samples, many of which were collected in the 1960s and 1970s without informed consent.[3]

Career

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Hermes served as a Navy Medical Sailor for eight years, earning a Humanitarian Medal for service during the Indonesian tsunami crisis.[4] Hermes worked for the Australian government's Centrelink Remote Service Team and as an Investigations Officer for the Commonwealth Ombudsman Office.[4]

She currently serves as deputy director of the NCIG, where she aims to find the 7,000 people in 35 communities from whom blood samples were taken, and seek informed consent for research that may shed light on genetic diseases.[5] Hermes previously held the post of Indigenous community engagement coordinator at the organization,[6] and was responsible for informing communities about the existence of the samples.[7] She retroactively sought consent from the communities from which samples were taken.[8]

At the NCIG, she oversaw the return of blood samples taken in 1968 and 1969 after an outbreak of typhoid fever to the Galiwin’ku community on Elcho Island in 2019.[9]  Subsequently she commissioned burial poles from the island to represent those who have passed away, and installed the burial poles at ANU during National Reconciliation Week in 2021. The Galiwin'ku community gave permission for hundreds of blood samples from those who are still alive to have their genomes sequenced.[9] Under her leadership the NCIG has coordinated with the National Computational Infrastructure supercomputing facility to analyze genomic data.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Lewis, Dyani (23 December 2019). "Australian biobank repatriates hundreds of 'legacy' Indigenous blood samples". Nature. 577 (7788): 11–12. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03906-5. PMID 31871327.
  2. ^ "ANU: Variations in Indigenous DNA hold key to tailored treatments". Canberra Daily. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Transcript – Community Engagement & Consent – A Conversation with Azure Hermes". Scaffolding Cultural CoCreativity. 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  4. ^ a b "Associate Professor Azure Hermes | ANU National Centre for Indigenous Genomics". ncig.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  5. ^ "First Nations Genomics with Professor Emma Johnston, Azure Hermes and Professor Marcel Dinger" (PDF). UNSW. October 2021. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  6. ^ "Will Indigenous Australia lead the way in ethical genetic research?". NITV. SBS. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  7. ^ Isabella Higgins; Kirstie Wellauer (26 May 2021). "'Today is really monumental': How a community is reclaiming DNA that was taken more than 50 years ago". ABC News. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  8. ^ Rawat, Sachin (10 October 2024). "Diverse Genomes Make Medicine More Equitable". GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  9. ^ a b CityNews (2021-05-27). "Azure returns indigenous blood samples home". Canberra CityNews. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  10. ^ "NCI supercomputer supporting Indigenous health outcomes | NCI". nci.org.au. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
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