Professor Alex Brown is a trailblazing Indigenous medical doctor and genomics researcher. He is Professor of Indigenous genomics and Director of the National Centre of Indigenous Genomics at the Australian National University and The Kids Research Institute Australia. He provides scientific and operational leadership with the Australian Alliance for Indigenous Genomics, a national network established to ensure that Indigenous peoples are at the forefront of genomics efforts nationally and internationally. 

His research achievements span diverse fields – from genomic medicine to epidemiology to health services – with a focus on empowering Indigenous Australians, identifying and overcoming health disparities, and addressing chronic disease in vulnerable communities. The programs he leads have actively grown the next generation of Indigenous researchers.

He was the first Indigenous scientist appointed to the board of CSIRO and has made significant and wide-ranging contributions to national policy in Indigenous health. From the Yuin nation, he has family connections to the far south coast of New South Wales.

Professor Alex Brown (Wadi Wadi, Yuin Nation) is the Professor of Indigenous Genomics at the Telethon Kids Institute and The Australian National University. He is an internationally recognised clinician/researcher who has committed his entire career to Aboriginal health research, with specific focus on understanding and overcoming inequalities in cardiovascular disease and diabetes outcomes - from clinical research, epidemiology, population health, genomics and national policy. Over the last 20 years, he has established four highly regarded Indigenous health research groups (total income over $120m as a chief investigator), employing and training the next generation of Indigenous researchers in public health and clinical research. Much of his work has operated in regional and remote Australia, in the difficult nexus of geographical isolation, complex cultural context, severe socioeconomic disadvantage, inequitable access to and receipt of care and profound health disparity. Professor Brown has built his career spanning quantitative clinical epidemiology, mixed method health service research, qualitative research, and has contributed to the development of culturally aligned Indigenous methods of research. He is heavily involved in national policy and has a strong track record in knowledge translation. He has overseen the development of research teams, their training, capacity development of junior Indigenous
researchers and staff, and has established and implemented numerous research studies in Aboriginal communities spanning all jurisdictions of the country. He has family connections to Nowra, Wreck Bay and Wallaga Lake on the far south coast of NSW.
He currently leads multiple large scale, national networks in Indigenous health research and genomics, and leads landmark studies in the genomics of chronic diseases.
In 2012, Alex was awarded the Viertel Senior Medical Research Fellowship to further his research into the impacts of psychological determinants on cardiovascular disease in Aboriginal communities.
In March 2023 he was the first Indigenous scientist appointed to the CSIRO Board.