Section: Overview
Overview
Key publications
Research funding
Supervising & teaching
Career

Key details

Areas of expertise

  • Epigenetics and exercise responses
  • Bioinformatics & biostatistics
  • R coding
  • Ageing

Available to supervise research students

Available for media queries

About Sarah Voisin

Sarah is a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at Victoria University. She works at the crossroad of epigenetics, genetics, statistics and bioinformatics, with particular focus on physical activity, nutrition and human health. In September 2016, she completed her PhD from Uppsala University and Pierre & Marie Curie University.

She has published 38 papers (with four under review) and developed a unique bioinformatics pipeline to systematically annotate the epigenome and integrated complex genetic and epigenetic human data using the R statistical software. Her current research work and interest is epigenetic ageing, the epigenetic basis for the variable response to exercise training, sex-specific exercise responses, and statistical methods to develop personalised health interventions. She was recently awarded an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship and a Jack Brockhoff Early Career Medical grant that will allow her to discover epigenetic biomarkers of healthy ageing.

She keeps excellent collaborations with research leaders all over the world, as exemplified by her recent co-author publication in Science Advances (impact factor = 11.5).

Qualifications

  • PhD in epigenetics, obesity and bioinformatics, Uppsala University, Sweden, 2016
  • PhD in epigenetics, obesity and bioinformatics, University Pierre et Marie Curie, France, 2016
  • Master in Biosciences, University Claude Bernard, Lyon, 2012
  • Bachelor in Fundamental Biology, University Claude Bernard, Lyon, 2009

Key publications

Year Citation
2019 Jacques, M., Hiam, D., Craig, J., Barres, R., Eynon, N., & Voisin, S. (190703). Epigenetic changes in healthy human skeletal muscle following exercise- a systematic review. Epigenetics, 14(7), (633-648).

doi: 10.1080/15592294.2019.1614416

2019 Landen, S., Voisin, S., Craig, J. M., McGee, S. L., Lamon, S., & Eynon, N. (190603). Genetic and epigenetic sex-specific adaptations to endurance exercise. Epigenetics, 14(6), (523-535).

doi: 10.1080/15592294.2019.1603961

2019 Voisin, S., Jacques, M., Lucia, A., Bishop, D. J., & Eynon, N. (190101). Statistical Considerations for Exercise Protocols Aimed at Measuring Trainability. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 47(1), (37-45).

doi: 10.1249/JES.0000000000000176

2018 Cedernaes, J., Schonke, M., Westholm, J. O., Mi, J., Chibalin, A., Voisin, S., Osler, M., Vogel, H., Hornaeus, K., & Dickson, S. L. (180822). Acute sleep loss results in tissue-specific alterations in genome-wide DNA methylation state and metabolic fuel utilization in humans. Science Advances, 4(8),

doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aar8590

2015 Voisin, S., Almen, M. S., Zheleznyakova, G. Y., Lundberg, L., Zarei, S., Castillo, S., Eriksson, F. E., Nilsson, E. K., Bluher, M., & Bottcher, Y. (151008). Many obesity-associated SNPs strongly associate with DNA methylation changes at proximal promoters and enhancers. Genome Medicine, 7(1),

doi: 10.1186/s13073-015-0225-4

2015 Cedernaes, J., Osler, M. E., Voisin, S., Broman, J. E., Vogel, H., Dickson, S. L., Zierath, J. R., Schioth, H. B., & Benedict, C. (150901). Acute sleep loss induces tissue-specific epigenetic and transcriptional alterations to circadian clock genes in men. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 100(9), (E1255-E1261).

doi: 10.1210/JC.2015-2284

2015 Voisin, S., Almen, M. S., Moschonis, G., Chrousos, G. P., Manios, Y., & Schioth, H. B. (150521). Dietary fat quality impacts genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in a cross-sectional study of Greek preadolescents. European Journal of Human Genetics, 23(5), (654-662).

doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2014.139

2015 Voisin, S., Eynon, N., Yan, X., & Bishop, D. J. (150101). Exercise training and DNA methylation in humans. Acta Physiologica, 213(1), (39-59).

doi: 10.1111/apha.12414

Research funding for the past 5 years

Please note:

  • Funding is ordered by the year the project commenced and may continue over several years.
  • Funding amounts for contact research are not disclosed to maintain commercial confidentiality.
  • The order of investigators is not indicative of the role they played in the research project.

Examining the effects of gender affirming hormone therapies on fitness and muscle health in transgender Australians: The GAMES Study 
From: Department of Jobs, Precincts & Regions
Other investigators: Prof Nir Eynon
For period: 2022-2024
$98,499

Can Exercise Slow Down the Epigenetic Ageing Clock?
From: Australian Research Council - Discovery Project, Victoria University
Other investigators: Prof Nir Eynon, Prof Itamar Levinger, Dr Severine Lamon
For period: 2020-2022
$534,000
Developing Epigenetic Biomarkers for Healthy Ageing
From: The Jack Brockhoff Foundation
For period: 2020-2021
$110,633

Using Exercise to Target the Epigenome of the Ageing Skeletal Muscle
From: NHMRC
For period: 2019-2022
$327,192
Targeting the Genome & Epigenome of the Exercising Skeletal Muscle
From: Australian Research Council - Discovery Project
Other investigators: Prof Nir Eynon
For period: 2019-2021
$302,500

HPRnet - Discovering 'combat genes' to help identify, and optimise the training of, the future soldier.
From: Defence Science and Technology Group, Australia, ISEAL
Other investigators: Prof David Bishop, Prof Nir Eynon
For period: 2017-2022
$1,025,735

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the following organisations for their support and essential contributions to my research:

Supervision of research students at VU

Available to supervise research students

Available for media queries

Completed supervision of research students at VU

No. of students Study level Role
1 PhD by Publication Associate supervisor
4 PhD Associate supervisor

Completed supervision of research students at VU

Students & level Role
PhD by Publication (1) Associate supervisor
PhD (4) Associate supervisor

Other supervision of research students

2019-2020: Bioinformatics advisor of Snowball, J. Master of Philosophy, Epigenetics of motor coordination, Deakin University, Australia. 2019-2022: Statistics advisor of Alexander, S. PhD, The Role of Testosterone in Female Skeletal Muscle Health, Deakin University, Australia. 2018: Co-supervisor of Tellier, C. Masters internship, Methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTLs) are detected in skeletal muscle and vary after both a single bout of High-Intensity Interval Exercise and four weeks of High-Intensity Interval Training in the Gene SMART study, Victoria University, Australia. 2017: Co-supervisor of Alvarez-Romero, J. Honours, Association between COL5A1 rs12722, rs10628678 gene variants and Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury in Australian and South African populations, Victoria University, Australia. Victoria University Medal for Academic Excellence for Honours for the College of Sport and Exercise Science. 2017: Co-supervisor of Ducreux, B. Masters internship, Epigenetic age was not reduced after 1 month of training but fitness and age show inverse relationship of DNA methylation in a Gene SMART study cohort Victoria University, Australia. Grade received: 1st class.

Teaching activities & experience

2018 – ongoing: Tutorials in R for HDR students and postdocs, Victoria University, Australia.

2017: Invited lecture and tutorial on epigenetics and R analysis of next-generation sequencing data, Biomedical Master students, Victoria University, Australia.

2017-2018: Invited lecture on genetic influence on performance and talent identification, Sports Coaching Masters, Victoria University, Australia.

2014: Invited lecture and tutorial on Epigenetics and Bioinformatics, Masters biomedical program, Uppsala University, Sweden.

Key academic roles

Dates Role Department / Organisation
Jan 2017 - Present
Postdoctoral Fellow
Victoria University
Dates Role & Department/Organisation
Jan 2017 -
Present
Postdoctoral Fellow
Victoria University

Key industry, community & government roles

Dates Role Department/Organisation
Jan 2019 - Dec 2022
Reviewer of Discovery Projects and DECRA Fellowships
Australian Research Council (ARC)
Dates Role & Department/Organisation
Jan 2019 - Dec 2022
Reviewer of Discovery Projects and DECRA Fellowships
Australian Research Council (ARC)

Awards

Year Award
2019

Postdoctoral Award ($1500) - National Association of Research Fellows (NARF)

2019

Vice-Chancellor Award for Excellence in Research and Research Training (Early Career) - Victoria University

2019

Best Oral Presentation prize at Muscle Network Symposium ($50) - Monash University and University of Melbourne

2017

Early Career Researcher development and mentoring grant ($7,610) - College of Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria University

2017

Early Career Researcher excellence award ($500) - College of Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria University

2015

Oral communication prize (€200) - Centre de recherche des Cordeliers, University Pierre & Marie Curie

Show more awards

Keynote and invited speeches

Year Title/Description
2019

An epigenetic clock for human skeletal muscle

Symposium on genetics and epigenetics of physical activity: gene-environment interactions modulating health and disease, Melbourne, Australia

2019

An epigenetic clock for human skeletal muscle

Muscle Network Symposium, University of Melbourne & Monash University

2019

An epigenetic clock for human skeletal muscle

Invited bioinformatics talk, Deakin University, Geelong campus, Australia

2019

Statistical considerations to identify responders and non-responders to exercise training

Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, Japan

2019

Epigenetics in exercise training: sex differences and trainability

Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, Japan

2019

Epigenetics in exercise training: sex differences and trainability

Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan

2018

Racing against the (epigenetic) clock: aerobic fitness is associated with younger epigenetic profiles in skeletal muscle

Australian Physiological Society (AuPS), Sydney

2018

How exercise training is influenced by the epigenome and genome

35th FIMS World Congress of Sports Medicine, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2018

How exercise training is influenced by the epigenome and genome

III Brazilian Symposium on Genomics and Sports, São Paulo, Brazil

2018

Genetics and Epigenetics of exercise responses

Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, Japan

2017

Transcriptional patterns of ageing in human primary muscle cells

Annual Australasian Society of Diagnostic Genomics conference, Brisbane

2014

How to deal with the stats parasites

ISEAL Seminar, Victoria University, Melbourne

Show more invited keynote speeches

Professional memberships

  • Academic Member, Australian Physiological Society
  • Academic Member, Australian Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Society

Media appearances

08th January 2019

Mind and Muscles – How to age well

COSMOS Magazine