The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) invites you to participate in a short survey about your
interaction with the ARDC and use of our national research infrastructure and services. The survey will take
approximately 5 minutes and is anonymous. It’s open to anyone who uses our digital research infrastructure
services including Reasearch Link Australia.
We will use the information you provide to improve the national research infrastructure and services we
deliver and to report on user satisfaction to the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research
Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program.
Please take a few minutes to provide your input. The survey closes COB Friday 29 May 2026.
Complete the 5 min survey now by clicking on the link below.
MicroRNA Pathway Control Of Immune Cell Development
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$631,370.00
Summary
The immune system is comprised of many different cell types, each with a specialised function. Many are short-lived and must be continually replenished throughout life. Abnormalities in this process underlie many human diseases, including immunodeficiency, autoimmunity and cancer. My laboratory seeks to understand the molecular pathways that control development of immune cells and to identify the defects that lead to disease.
The genetic material is packaged in the cell nucleus with histone proteins. Modifications of histones determine if a particular area of the genome is active or repressed. We are investigating the roles of a family of histone modifying proteins, the MYST proteins. Mutations in these proteins cause intellectual disability and cancer. The research program will provide knowledge that may become the basis for the development of drugs for the treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.
As a molecular geneticist, I am interested in how and why genetic mutations occur, how these changes cause disease or disease predisposition, and ways of better treating and monitoring genetic disease. The ‘model diseases’ I am most interested in are blood cell diseases such as autoimmunity (e.g. arthritis) and leukaemias.
Determining recurrence risk in breast cancer is crucial, as more than half of all recurrences occur after 5 years. However, optimal management of breast cancer is hampered by the challenges in finding rational preventative and predictive targets. Our vision is to find targets responsible for progenitor cell expansion, as candidates for prevention, and to find markers of relapse, to predict early versus late responders to therapy.
The cell types of the blood, such as red and white blood cells, are produced in the bone marrow from a rare stem cell. The stem cell uses a handful of important master-regulatory genes that act in a hierarchy to promote the blood cell differentiation process. This research aims to understand how these master-regulators function in isolation and together in producing the white blood cells that are required for our immune response to microbes, vaccination and to prevent cancer.
Control Of Organ Size And Cancer By The Hippo Pathway
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$638,517.00
Summary
The Hippo pathway is a key regulator of tissue growth. It was first discovered in vinegar flies and plays a similar role in mammals. We aim to define the mechanism by which the Hippo pathway controls tissue growth and cancer. These studies will be performed in flies and mammalian cell culture. Our studies will shed light on how tissue growth is controlled, and have the potential to inform the way that we treat human cancers and tissue growth disorders.
Modelling Haematopoietic Disease And Leukocyte Function Using Zebrafish Models
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$686,656.00
Summary
Dr Lieschke studies white blood cell function and diseases. His biomedical research uses zebrafish animal models of human white blood cell diseases and he is an international expert on their blood and immune systems. His current research aims to understand what goes wrong in diseases when there are too many white blood cells (as in leukaemia), or too few (as in some hereditary diseases), and to develop new therapies for controlling inflammatory and infective diseases.
New genomic technologies are revolutionizing biological research. RNA-seq is a recently developed high-throughput sequencing technology that provides scientists with much more detail how genes are regulated and expressed than any earlier technology. New tools developed by Professor Gordon Smyth are allowing researchers to use RNA-Seq technology to more accurately determine which genes are genuinely changing in the development of cancers and in response to cancer treatments.
I am a cancer biologist determining the mechanisms controlling growth and proliferation of cancer cells and use transgenic models of malignancy and genetic approaches to identify new therapies for targeting growth control in the treatment of cancer.