Author archives: a1006900

Search news stories

Enter a keyword to search news.

Excellence in research publication award to Assoc Prof Theresa Hickey

The Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences Research Committee (University of Adelaide) have awarded Dr Theresa Hickey a Publication Excellence Award 2021 for the paper published this year in Nature Medicine (Hickey et al; 27, 310-320) entitled "The androgen receptor is a tumor suppressor in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer".  Targeting the androgen receptor (AR) in breast cancer has been of intense clinical interest over the past two decades, but widespread controversy existed over whether to use an agonist or antagonist strategy.  This publication definitively shows that AR is a tumour suppressor in estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer, the most prevalent form, and that an agonist, not an antagonist, strategy exerts potent anti-tumour activity in multiple disease contexts, including disease resistant to all forms of standard-of-care therapy. The immediate global response (62 global news outlets; Altmetrics score 485) are testament to the outstanding quality of this research. Based on the preclinical studies in this paper, a phase III international clinical trial (VERU; ARTEST) commenced in July 2021.

[Read more about Excellence in research publication award to Assoc Prof Theresa Hickey ]

Congratulations Wenjun Liu - 2021 Florey Postgraduate Research Conference prize recipient

The Florey Postgraduate Research Conference, held on 22 September at the Adelaide Convention Centre, was a highlight for the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Faculty showcasing outstanding research activity.  DRMCRL PhD student Wenjun (Nora) Liu was awarded the Peter Couche Foundation Prize for her poster presentation of her Masters work on "Transcriptional targets of senataxin are associated with perturbed neuro-degenerative pathways under prolonged autophagy induction". Well done Nora!  The conference, now in its 15th year, gives HDR students the opportunity to discuss their research with fellow students, academics, industry partners, and other major stakeholders of the University. It is a chance to recognise excellent in research, hear from distinguished speakers on specialised topics, and beneficial to HDR students for ongoing professional and personal development.  2021 Florey Postgraduate Conference prize list here

[Read more about Congratulations Wenjun Liu - 2021 Florey Postgraduate Research Conference prize recipient ]

Another DRMCRL student awarded PhD degree – Congratulations Reza Alizadeh Ghodsi!

Mohammadreza (Reza), our final student from the “2017 PhD quartet”, has been awarded a doctoral degree for his work on "Extreme activation of androgen receptor for prostate cancer therapy".  Reza will continue prostate cancer research as a postdoc at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Centre in Seattle, USA, in the laboratory of Dr Peter Nelson whose interests are in exploiting cancer genomics and the tumor microenvironment to guide oncology treatment.  All the best and well done Reza!

[Read more about Another DRMCRL student awarded PhD degree – Congratulations Reza Alizadeh Ghodsi! ]

Well done Ebtihal Mustafa - PhD awarded!

Congratulations to Ebtihal Mustafa for great work in completing her doctoral thesis on "Development of a novel therapeutic strategy for estrogen receptor negative breast cancer". And in further good news, Ebi will start a postdoctoral position in October with Assoc Prof Nicholas Clemons at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne whose research interests are in fundamental cancer biology and pre-clinical development of innovative therapeutic strategies and translational research, with a focus on upper gastrointestinal cancers. Best of luck Ebi! 

[Read more about Well done Ebtihal Mustafa - PhD awarded! ]

Dean’s commendation for doctoral thesis excellence - Congratulations Raj!

Raj Kumar Shrestha’s PhD thesis work entitled: “Elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying androgen-regulated lipid metabolism in prostate cancer” has been conferred with a Commendation for Doctoral Research Excellence by the Dean of Graduate Studies.  Well done Raj!   Raj’s PhD work was supported by an Adelaide Scholarship International (ASI), and a Freemasons Centre for Male Health and Wellbeing top-up scholarship.

[Read more about Dean’s commendation for doctoral thesis excellence - Congratulations Raj! ]

DRMCRL researchers attend 33rd Annual Lorne Cancer Conference 2021

Professor Wayne Tilley, Associate Professor Theresa Hickey and Dr Amy Dwyer attended the 2021 Annual Lorne Cancer Conference held at the Mantra Lorne. The Lorne Cancer Conference was a unique experience with Victoria entering into a 5-day lockdown from Friday 12th February. This resulted in the program for Saturday being restructured to accommodate the postponed sessions from Friday. 

[Read more about DRMCRL researchers attend 33rd Annual Lorne Cancer Conference 2021]