The Boy Who Wasn’t Short

‘This is an excellent book that explores the history, ethics, patient stories, and explanations of science in a sensitive and relatable way. It is a very readable book that does not overwhelm the reader with scientific facts. It takes a complicated topic in medicine and makes genetics accessible to a wider audience.’

– Judges’ citation from the 2022 BMA medical book awards

‘Admirable … With great precision and detail, Dr Kirk explores the unexpected ways in which our genes shape our lives … A renowned geneticist, Kirk is also a capable writer. He is humorous, modest, insightful, and humane.’

– Kevin O’Sullivan * Irish Examiner *

‘This new book sets out to share the experiences and anecdotes of a career in genetic medicine more than two-decades long, while narrating segments of the history of genetic pathology and exploring the world of genes today and to come … Kirk makes effective use of footnotes to deflate the academic style and maintain a sense of personality and fun.’

– David Ferrell * Canberra Times *

‘Both an account of the human stories at the heart of Kirk’s practice and a beginner’s guide to genetic medicine, The Genes That Make Us tells of the significant progress that has been made in genetics over the past two decades, while also signalling how far there is left to travel.’

– Diane Stubbings * Australian Book Review *

Professor Edwin Kirk is both a clinical geneticist and a genetic pathologist. As a clinician, he sees patients at Sydney Children’s Hospital, where he has worked for more than 20 years. His laboratory practice is in the New South Wales Health Pathology Genomics Laboratory at Randwick.

Kirk is a conjoint appointee in the School of Women’s and Children’s Health at the University of New South Wales, an experienced medical educator, and currently Chief Examiner in Genetics for the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. He is also a respected researcher, working in the fields of cardiac genetics, metabolic diseases, and intellectual disability, as well as studying reproductive carrier screening, and is a co-author of more than 100 publications in scientific journals. He is one of the co-leads and public faces of the $20 million Mackenzie’s Mission carrier screening project.

Kirk lives in Sydney with his wife and three children. In his spare time, he competes in ocean swimming races and plays the saxophone.