Professor Martin Lavin has demonstrated distinguished research leadership at multiple levels over many years making important contributions to health and medical research. His major focus has been on unravelling the defects in rare human genetic disorders such as Ataxia-Telangiectasia (A-T), characterized by a defect in the DNA damage response, neurodegeneration and cancer susceptibility. His research activity has extended from basic through clinical to translational and he is a founding member of the National A-T Clinic at the Lady Cilento and Wesley Hospitals.