Una Ryan was born in Ireland in 1966 and completed her undergraduate work in
zoology at
University College Dublin in 1988. The following year, she moved to Australia and began working at
Murdoch University. Ryan continued her studies earning her PhD in 1996 in Ryan developed a test to verify if the parasites are present in water samples and if they are present, whether they are one of the two types that are harmful to humans. She filed a worldwide patent on her DNA method of diagnosing
Cryptosporidium and was awarded a Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year, one of the Minister's Prizes and highest award given by the Prime Minister of Australia to recognise scientists' contributions. She was elected a Fellow of the Australian Society for Parasitology in 2021. Her work has continued and expanded to include research on
Giardia,
Neospora and
piroplasms and she has received grants from the
Australian Research Council as well as other organisations to evaluate parasitic impact on the water supply and public health. In one study, her primary results showed that sheep, though they contribute to water contamination, are not a significant contributor to parasites which affect humans. Ryan is an associate professor at the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences and lecturer in biochemistry at Murdoch University. ==Selected works==