University of Newcastle
Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
I am an Associate Professor of Biomedical Science and an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator, and Defeat DIPG Chadtough New Investigator. I work in medical biochemistry, cancer cell biology and proteogenomics, decorated by 26 national and international awards. Over the last 9 years (FTE1.0) I have secured successive Cancer Institute NSW Early Career Fellowships (2014-2016 and 2017-2019), an NHMRC Investigator Grant (2020-2025), a Defeat DIPG Chadtough New Investigator Grant (2020-2021) and successful Cancer Institute NSW and NHMRC Equipment Grants to establish a high-resolution mass spectrometry platform at the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute. In 2019, I was named the NSW Premier’s Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow, a Tall Poppy Science award in 2020 and an International DIPG Big Hero Award in 2022 (presented in Washington on the 12th of November, 2022). I guide the Cancer Signalling Research Group at the University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research Institute, which is focused on childhood leukaemia and brain cancer research. We use sophisticated phosphoproteomic techniques to characterize the cellular signalling pathways dysregulated by the genetic individualities of a patient’s cancer. This profiling strategy attempts to identify novel treatment targets and drug combinations to improve survival. When my research took an unexpected shift in 2018 (daughter Josephine diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma - DIPG), I created my own program of DIPG research. Guided by those at the forefront of international DIPG research, my endeavors provide the preclinical hypothesis, preclinical and cases study data underpinning PNOC022, Adaptive Combination Therapy clinical trial designed on the unique biology of both the tumor and the drugs used.
