Browse Research Staff by Research Area Dr Divya Bhargav     St George Clinical School Statement of Interests: In the field of cartilage biology and regeneration of the intervertebral disc More... Dr Diego Butera     UNSW Cancer Research Centre Statement of Interests: More... Dr Pierre Dilda     UNSW Cancer Research Centre Statement of Interests: - Tumour angiogenesis: Tumour expansion and metastasis is dependent on tumour blood vessel formation, or angiogenesis. We have made a synthetic tripeptide trivalent arsenical, GSAO (4-(N-(S-glutathionylacetyl)amino) phenylarsenoxide) that inhibits proliferating, but not growth-quiescent, endothelial cells in vitro and angiogenesis in vivo. We have proposed that GSAO inactivates the mitochondrial adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT). GSAO is a selective inhibitor of endothelial cells compared to tumour cells, with IC50 values for proliferation arrest up to 30-fold higher in tumour cells. The selectivity of GSAO for endothelial versus tumour cells is mostly accounted for by differences in MRP1/2 activity and cellular glutathione levels. GSAO inhibits tumour growth in mice and is currently tested in a Phase I/IIa clinical trial in cancer patients with solid tumours. This research has been published in Cancer Cell (IF=23.9), the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (IF=15.7), Cancer Research (IF=7.7) and Journal of Biological Chemistry (IF=5.6) and was the subject of commentaries in Nature Reviews Cancer, Lancet Oncology and Science-Business eXchange(SciBX). - Drug discovery: GSAO acts as a pro-drug (Dilda et al., J. Biol. Chem. 2008). The γ-glutamyl residue of GSAO is cleaved at the endothelial cell surface by γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT). The product of this reaction, GCAO, is transported across the plasma membrane by an organic ion transporter where it may be further processed by dipeptidases to CAO. GCAO or CAO then enters the mitochondrial matrix where it reacts with the inner-membrane transporter, adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT). We have made a chemically stable analogue of CAO, called PENAO. PENAO does not require processing by γ-GT at the cell surface. PENAO accumulates in cells much more rapidly than GSAO, which translates to more potent effects on endothelial and tumor cells in culture and better anti-tumor efficacy in mice. PENAO targets both tumor endothelium and tumor cells in vivo(Dilda et al., J. Med. Chem., 2009). PENAO is currently undergoing toxicity and PK tests. It will be tested in clinical trial phase I/IIa early 2010. More... Dr Donna Dinnes     Centre for Vascular Research Statement of Interests: - More... Dr Anthony Don     UNSW Cancer Research Centre Statement of Interests: Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a potent and essential signaling metabolite that promotes cell proliferation, migration, and survival, amongst other higher physiological roles. We use biochemistry and molecular biology techniques to investigate the molecular basis for cell proliferation and survival mediated by S1P, and to study the known contribution that this molecule makes to the dysregulated survival of cancer cells. We are also investigating how the immediate biosynthetic precursors to S1P, ceramide and sphingosine, promote cell death (in direct contrast to S1P). In this regard we are interested in the design and synthesis of sphingosine analogues as a new class of anti-cancer agents. Our hypothesis is that when these molecules reach a threshhold intracellular concentration, they flick a molecular "switch", causing a change in the cell state from proliferation/survival to apoptosis. More... Dr Peter Galettis     St George Clinical School - Department of Medicine Statement of Interests: Research focuses on determining the mechanisms of action of anticancer drugs. In particular the analysis and metabolism of antimetabolites, platinum drugs, anthracyclines and novel agents. We are also looking at the role of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) on drug action. More... Professor Philip Hogg     UNSW Cancer Research Centre Statement of Interests: Disulphide bonds are covalent links between pairs of cysteine amino acids. All life forms make this bond. Human cells, for instance, make about 3,000 different proteins that contain disulphide bonds. These bonds have been generally considered to be either structural or catalytic. Structural bonds stabilise a protein while catalytic bonds mediate thiol-disulphide interchange reactions in substrate proteins. There is emerging evidence for a third type of disulphide bond which can control protein function by triggering a conformational change when it breaks and/or forms. We have called these bonds ‘allosteric disulphides’. We have predicted that about one in fifteen of all structurally determined disulphides is a potential allosteric bond, implying a significant role for these bonds in controlling protein function. Viral, bacterial and human proteins have been shown to be controlled by allosteric disulphides. Our research focus is to characterise control of important proteins by allosteric disulphides, be able to predict allosteric disulphides in proteins, and to exploit allosteric disulphides for drug development. More... Dr John Hunt     School of Medical Sciences - Department of Pathology Statement of Interests: My research interests focus on mast cell biology and the discovery and molecular characterisation of novel mast cell proteases. We have recently discovered a number of novel human mast cell tryptases, and we are currently determining their substrate specificity. Another aspect of our work involves the characterisation of factors that control the biology of mast cells. We have demonstrated that IL-15 is one of the most potent mast cell attractants yet reported, and aslo acts to upregulate the expression of ubiquitin-protein ligase 3B, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) and apolipoprotein CI (ApoC1) by mast cells. More... Professor Wendy Jessup     Centre for Vascular Research Statement of Interests: Our major research objective is to develop knowledge of the mechanism, nature and impact of sterol accumulation in human disease, with particular emphasis on the generation and biology of the macrophage foam cell in atherosclerosis. We have ongoing interests in the processes which mediate lipid accumulation by macrophages, including lipoprotein modifications that promote uptake of lipid (such as oxidation), and processes by which macrophages export cholesterol, and by which atherosclerosis may be reversed. Knowledge gained from these studies addresses fundamental issues of cholesterol traffic within the macrophage foam cell. Extensions of these studies into the areas of inflammation and leucocyte activation will allow us to investigate how cholesterol and inflammation are linked. More... Associate Professor Maria Kavallaris     School of Women's and Children's Health Statement of Interests: All living cells rely on cellular architecture, made up of the cytoskeleton to work. The microtubule cytoskeleton plays a critical role in cell division and our research focuses on the fundamental aspects of the tubulin/microtubule system, centring around the mitotic spindle axis and its role in cell division. To gain a fundamental understanding of the cytoskeleton in cell division, we have developed molecular, cellular and proteomic tools and coupled this with drug probes to identify microtubule protein function. This fundamental research is informing the field on how to design and target antimitotic agents used in cancer therapy. More... Dr Clovis Palmer     Centre for Infection and Inflammation Research Statement of Interests: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects approximately 3% of the world population, including 210,000 Australians. Obesity is other significant global epidemic. Unfortunately, most overweight and obese individuals develops fatty livers (steatosis) making them more vulnerable to foreign agents such as bacterial endotoxins. As such,these individuals can rapidly progress to more severe liver diseases. Furthermore we have recently shown that there is increased inflammation in the livers of HCV infected patients who are overweight and have fatty liver compared to HCV-infected patients without fatty livers. We are focused on the immune driven mechanisms responsible for this accelerated liver injury in obese-HCV-infected patients. We are currently exploring the role of inflammatory genes and non-coding RNAs in this process. Additionally, we have previously shown that obese-HCV-infected patients have reduced immune response to HCV infection. Furthermore, HCV infection is significantly associated with insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and a reduced response to antiviral therapy. Therefore, we are also interested in the role of glucose and lipid metabolism on the function of immune cells in hepatitis C infected patients. More... Dr Stephen Palmer     School of Medical Sciences Statement of Interests: 1.Understanding the role of the gene Gtf2ird1 in brain development and human behaviour and its contribution towards the characteristic features of Williams-Beuren syndrome. 2. Understanding the gene regulatory networks involved in the control of muscle fibre type in order to develop strategies to combat the effects of disease and ageing. More... Dr Jose Perdomo     Centre for Vascular Research Statement of Interests: Dr Perdomo's interest is the post-translational modifications of transcription factors that regulate the commitment and differentiation of haematopoietic cells, especially megakaryocytes (the precursors of platelets) and erythrocytes (red blood cells). Of special interest is the modification of transcription factors by a small protein called SUMO. Modification with SUMO typically alters the function of target protein leading to important biological consequences such as differential gene expression. His main research interests are:- Identification of SUMO-modified proteins in megakaryocytes and erythroid cells; - Analysis of the role played by SUMO-modified proteins in cellular differentiation and proliferation; - The role of transcription factors in blood disorders such as thrombocythemia and polycythemia. Knowledge gained from this research will help elucidate fundamental aspects of blood development. More... Associate Professor Thomas Preiss     St Vincent's Clinical School - Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Statement of Interests: Click to view research interests and key publications - http://www.victorchang.edu.au/research/ProfThomasPreiss.cfm?cid=79 More... Dr Georg Ramm     St Vincent's Clinical School Statement of Interests: The main research area is the study of intersections between cell signalling and membrane transport and to understand how extrinsic signals such as insulin, nutrient signals, or pro-inflammatory stimuli regulate the flux of molecules inside the cell. Research has been conducted on medically relevent processes such as GLUT4 trafficking (Type 2 diabetes), MHC class II trafficking (infection and immunity) and autophagy. The current research focuses on the regulation of autophagy by growth factors and nutrients. Autophagy occurs at low levels in all cell types and has a dual role in the protection from diseases as well as in their pathogenesis. More... Dr Carsten Schmitz-Peiffer     St Vincent's Clinical School Statement of Interests: The development of insulin resistance in skeletal muscle and liver is a key feature in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance is strongly associated with increased lipid availability, although the precise mechanisms involved remain to be elucidated. The Insulin Signalling Group at the Garvan Institute employs animal and cell culture models to study lipid metabolism and the inhibitory signalling pathways initiated by lipids which interfere with normal insulin action. More... Professor Bernard W Stewart     School of Women's and Children's Health Statement of Interests: The distribution of cancer in the community is largely due to the impact of environmental factors. Research is directed toward assessing the impact of lifestyle factors (including tobacco smoking), occupational exposures and the impact of pollution as means of preventing cancer. Immediate research concerns include risk communication and medico-legal approaches to limiting the impact of environmental carcinogens. Addressing community concern in relation to cancer clusters, and the provision of usable information about presumed hazards are the focus of current research. More... Dr Daniela Stock     St Vincent's Clinical School Statement of Interests: Daniela Stock’s laboratory ’s uses X-ray crystallography to determine the structures of proteins and protein complexes. Past highlights include the structure determination of the 20S proteasome and the F1c10 complex of ATP synthase providing new insights into their mechanisms. The laboratory now specialises in the structure determination of membrane proteins, which are difficult targets yet constitute about 30% of all proteins in a genome and are the target of more than 50% of all available drugs. The current focus is on biological rotary motors, such as F-, V-, and A-type ATPases, which are central to biological energy conversion and their dysfunction affects organs with high energy demands such as the heart and the brain. Future collaborative studies at the Victor Chang will focus on the structures of ion channels and G-protein coupled receptors, which are the major drug targets in cardiology. In addition to X-ray crystallography techniques, the laboratory is interested in method development to express and crystallise membrane proteins. More... Dr Shane Thomas     Centre for Vascular Research Statement of Interests: The Redox Cell Signalling Laboratory focuses on two major research areas: More... Mr Mathew Traini     Centre for Vascular Research Statement of Interests: More... Dr Jason Wong     UNSW Cancer Research Centre Statement of Interests: Advances in technology over the past decade have enabled the identification of hundreds or even thousands of proteins within a single proteomics experiment using mass spectrometry. In order to maximise the biological information from such experiments, interdisciplinary research is playing a major role. Work is being carried out to use chemical probes to target sub-proteomes of interest in search for cancer biomarkers. Furthermore, using machine learning and signal processing methods, novel bioinformatics algorithms are being developed to discover post-translational modifications and to quantify changes in protein expression between biological systems. More... Ms Jenny Wong     Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute Statement of Interests: More... Need to update your profile? Click here to login with your Staff ID, prefixed by a lower case "s" (eg s1234567), and UniPass to update your profile. If you have any problems please send an email to .

Search | Site Map | Online Enquiry | Site Feedback | UNSW Medicine Home Last Updated 11/24/2009 | Data Management | Disclaimer