David is head of the Clinical Epigenetics team at Telethon Kids Institute. He obtained his bachelor’s degree at the University of Western Australia in molecular biology and went on to complete a PhD on the topic of gene expression profiling in paediatric food allergy. He undertook postdoctoral studies in epigenetics at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute prior to taking up his current position with Telethon Kids.

Dr Martino's current research interests involve epigenetic regulation and programming of immune development in health and disease. He has a strong passion for genomics, bioinformatics and systems-wide approaches to studying complex diseases.

Board member - Genomics WA

Scientific advisory memeber - Genomics WA

Steering committee - Wal-yun Respiratory Reserach Centre

Epigenetics of immune ontogeny in newborns: This project defines the range of epigenetic variation in the immune system in newborns over the first week of life and environmental factors that modify epigenetic changes.

Epigenetic biomarkers of prenatal alcohol exposure: This project is a mechanistic investigation in models of prenatal alcohol exposure which aims to develop biomarkers with potential clincial utility in screenign and diagnosis of alcohol related neurodevelopment conditions

Water quality and gut microbiome: This project explores the role of domestic tap water quality, how it impacts the emerging gut microbiome in young infants and relates to health outcomes.