Rachael Dunlop is a postdoctoral fellow in cell biology at the University of Technology, Sydney.
18 Facts About Rachael Dunlop
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Rachael Dunlop has been interviewed about skepticism, vaccines, and her research on several national radio and television programs, including Big Ideas, The Project, and Lateline.
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In high school Rachael Dunlop studied both art and science, and after graduation got a certificate in fine art from Stanley Street School of Art, followed by an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design from the Croydon Park campus of TAFE South Australia.
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Rachael Dunlop has worked as a photographer and printmaker, a graphic designer, and a copywriter for a large international advertising agency.
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Rachael Dunlop eventually lost interest in her advertising work and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in cell biology at Adelaide University, even though she hadn't taken any biology in high school.
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Rachael Dunlop then received an honours degree from the Department of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology at Adelaide University and a PhD in cell biology from Sydney Medical School in 2005.
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Rachael Dunlop worked as a medical researcher at the Heart Research Institute in Camperdown, New South Wales, and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Technology, Sydney, where she studies ageing disorders and motor neurone disease.
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Rachael Dunlop is on the editorial board for the peer-reviewed journal Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies.
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In 2013 Rachael Dunlop received media attention for publishing a study that demonstrated a link between exposure to cyanobacteria and motor neurone disease, known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease.
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Rachael Dunlop became involved in the scientific skepticism movement in 2008 after meeting Australian Skeptics president Richard Saunders at a Skeptics in the Pub event.
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Rachael Dunlop is currently the vice-president of the New South Wales committee of the Australian Skeptics, and she has a regular segment called "Dr Rachie Reports" on the organisation's podcast, The Skeptic Zone, where she dissects the claims of alternative medicine practitioners.
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In 2008 Rachael Dunlop joined The Mystery Investigators, headed by Australian Skeptics president Richard Saunders.
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Rachael Dunlop has a blog, The Sceptics' Book of Pooh-Pooh, where she writes about the Australian anti-vaccination movement and other science- and health-related topics.
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Rachael Dunlop has contributed articles to the Science-Based Medicine blog about the Australian Vaccination Network, among other topics.
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Rachael Dunlop occasionally writes articles on alternative medicine for The Conversation.
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Rachael Dunlop argued in an editorial in The Guardian that media reporting of vaccine-related topics gives too much weight to voices from the anti-vaccine movement since they represent an insignificant minority compared to doctors and scientists who recommend vaccination.
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Rachael Dunlop won a 2010 Shorty Award in the Health category for her Twitter posts on medical issues.
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Rachael Dunlop was interviewed shortly afterwards on the Australian TV show Lateline, where she praised the Tribunal's decision.