Associate Professor Katie Ayers is Co-Lead of the Reproductive Development group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne, Australia. Her research focuses on the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying gonad development and Disorders/Differences of Sex Development (DSD) in humans. Her group developed a dedicated gene panel for DSD which improve diagnostic rates from 13 to 43% and which is now a clinical diagnostic test at the Victorian Clinical Genetics Services. Her focus is now to use genomic sequencing and functional analysis, including stem cell and animal models, to identify new genetic causes of DSD.