Tessa obtained her 𝗣𝗵𝗗 from the University of Western Australia working under the supervision of Prof. Ryan Lister. Her work focused on developing and characterizing several novel epigenome editing tools that enable potent combinatorial recruitment and improved transcriptional regulation compared to current systems. She continued this work as a 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, optimizing these molecular tools for deeply probing the complex epigenomic landscape. She then gained 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 experience with PYC Therapeutics developing her skills in optimising large molecular screening tools for identifying potential RNA binding domains that could be used for targeting small RNA therapeutics to specific cells and tissues. She has since started a new role as an RNA Design 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 at UWA and the new Australian Centre for RNA Therapeutics in Cancer (ACRTC). This role is supervised by Prof. Archa Fox and is positioned within a large collabortive team aimed at designing RNA therapies for individualised cancer treatments. Her role specifically entails developing approaches for RNA structure optimisation, with the aim of improving stability and targeting efficacy.