All students and postdocs in my group have clearly demarcated projects. This helps maximise the areas of research that we can tackle. When work within an area needs to be accelerated, help is provided by other members from the lab, particularly research assistants.

We collaborate closely with the Gray and Herold laboratories, both of which are led by former postdocs from my lab, as well as with all other laboratories within the Molecular Genetics of Cancer division. My lab also has close collaborations with many laboratories from other divisions at the institute, and many laboratories elsewhere in Australia and overseas.

Team

Lorraine O’Reilly, Senior Scientist, BSc Glasgow PhD London

Project:  Investigating the role of NF-kB1 as a tumour suppressor in gastric cancer

Project: The use of monoclonal antibodies to isolate novel proteins involved in cellular life or death decisions

Project: Testing the potential of the NF-kB family member c-Rel as a therapeutic target in multiple common autoimmune diseases

Key publication: O’Reilly LA, Tai L, Lee L, Kruse EA, Grabow S, Fairlie WD, Haynes NM, Tarlinton DM, Zhang J-G, Belz GT, Smyth MJ, Bouillet P, Robb L, Strasser A. Membrane-bound Fas ligand only is essential for Fas-induced apoptosis. Nature. 2009 Oct 1; 461(7264):659-63. PMID: 19794494

Silvia Alvarez-Diaz, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, BSc MSc Oviedo PhD Madrid

Project: Finding new regulators of necroptosis

Project: Functional interactions between MLKL, RIPK3 and caspase-8 in the control of lymphocyte homeostasis

Project: Investigating the role of the key regulator of necroptosis MLKL in gastrointestinal inflammation and cancer

Key publication: Alvarez-Diaz S, Dillon CP, Lalaoui N, Tanzer MC, Rodriguez DA, Lin A, Lebois M, Hakem R, Josefsson EC, O'Reilly LA, Silke J, Alexander WS, Green DR, Strasser A. The Pseudokinase MLKL and the Kinase RIPK3 Have Distinct Roles in Autoimmune Disease Caused by Loss of Death-Receptor-Induced Apoptosis. Immunity. 2016 Aug 10. pii: S1074-7613(16)30289-8. PMID: 27523270

Gemma Kelly, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, BSc (Hons) Durham PhD Birmingham

Project: Investigating the role of mutant p53 and MCL-1 in the sustained growth of MYC driven lymphomas and strategies for targeted therapy

Project: Investigating the function of the Epstein-Barr virus-encoded viral BCL-2 homologue, BHRF1

Key publication: Kelly GL, Grabow S, Glaser SP, Fitzsimmons L, Aubrey BJ, Okamoto T, Valente LJ, Robati M, Tai L, Fairlie WD, Lee EF, Lindstrom MS, Wiman KG, Huang DC, Bouillet P, Rowe M, Rickinson AB, Herold MJ, Strasser A. Targeting of MCL-1 kills MYC-driven mouse and human lymphomas even when they bear mutations in p53. Genes Dev. 2014 Jan 1;28(1):58-70. PMID: 24395247

Kirsten Brinkmann, Postdoctoral Fellow, BBiolSc(Hons) Cologne PhD Cologne

Project: The role of MCL-1 in protecting haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from cancer therapeutics

Project: The molecular control of MCL-1 expression

Key publication: Brinkmann K, Zigrino P, Witt A, Schell M, Ackermann L, Broxtermann P, Schüll S, Andree M, Coutelle O, Yazdanpanah B, Seeger JM, Klubertz D, Drebber U, Hacker UT, Krönke M, Mauch C, Hoppe T, Kashkar H. Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 potentiates cancer chemosensitivity by stabilizing NOXA. Cell Rep. 2013 Mar 28;3(3):881-91. PMID: 23499448

Ana Janic, Postdoctoral Fellow, BSc Belgrade PhD Barcelona

Project: Identification of the critical p53 tumour suppression mechanisms by using in vivo shRNA library screening

Key publication: Valente LJ, Gray DH, Michalak EM, Pinon-Hofbauer J, Egle A, Scott CL, Janic A, Strasser A. p53 efficiently suppresses tumor development in the complete absence of its cell-cycle inhibitory and proapoptotic effectors p21, Puma, and Noxa. Cell Rep. 2013 May 30;3(5):1339-45. PMID: 23665218.

Francine Ke, Postdoctoral Fellow, BSc (Hons) PhD Melbourne

Project: Searching for the function of the Bcl-2 family member Bok

Key publication: Ke F, Bouillet P, Kaufmann T, Strasser A, Kerr J, Voss AK. Consequences of the combined loss of BOK and BAK or BOK and BAX. Cell Death Dis. 2013 Jun 6;4:e650. PMID: 23744350

Shinsuke Mizutani, Postdoctoral Fellow, MD, PhD Kyoto

Project: Whole genome CRISPR screen to identify novel mechanisms of tumour suppression

Key publication: Mizutani S, Yoshida T, Zhao X, Nimer SD, Taniwaki M and Okuda T: Loss of Runx1/AML1 arginine-methylation impairs peripheral T cell homeostasis. Br J Haematol. 2015 Sep;170(6):859-73. PMID: 26010396

Brandon Aubrey, PhD Student, BA (cum laude) Penn MB BS Melbourne FRACP FRCPA

Project: Determining the role of mutant p53 in the sustained growth of Myc-driven lymphomas

Key publication: Aubrey BJ, Kelly GL, Kueh AJ, Brennan MS, O'Connor L, Milla L, Wilcox S, Tai L, Strasser A, Herold MJ. An inducible lentiviral guide RNA platform enables the identification of tumor-essential genes and tumor-promoting mutations in vivo. Cell Rep. 2015 Mar 3;10(8):1422-32. PMID: 25732831

Melanie Heinlein, PhD Student, BSc MSc Albert-Ludwigs Freiburg

Project: Novel regulators of immunological tolerance

Key publication: Weber A, Heinlein M, Dengjel J, Alber C, Singh PK, Häcker G. The deubiquitinase Usp27x stabilizes the BH3-only protein Bim and enhances apoptosis. EMBO Rep. 2016 May;17(5):724-38.PMID: 27013495

Jun Ting Low, PhD Student, BBiomedSc (Hons) Melbourne

Project: Understanding the Role of NF-kB1 in Gastric Cancer

Key publication: Low JT, Hughes P, Lin A, Siebenlist U, Jain R, Yaprianto K, Gray DH, Gerondakis S, Strasser A, O'Reilly LA. Impact of loss of NF-κB1, NF-κB2 or c-REL on SLE-like autoimmune disease and lymphadenopathy in Fas(lpr/lpr) mutant mice. Immunol Cell Biol. 2016 Jan;94(1):66-78. PMID: 26084385

Nenad Sejic, PhD Student, BMedSc Birmingham MRes Birmingham

Project: Understanding the mechanisms by which EBV genes regulate apoptosis and possibly other cell death pathways

Ann Lin, Research Assistant, BSc (Hons) Melbourne

Project:  Investigating the role of NF-kB1 as a tumour suppressor in gastric cancer

Project: The use of monoclonal antibodies to isolate novel proteins involved in cellular life or death decisions

Project: Testing the potential of the NF-kB family member c-Rel as a therapeutic target in multiple common autoimmune diseases

Key publication: O'Reilly LA, Hughes P, Lin A, Waring P, Siebenlist U, Jain R, Gray DH, Gerondakis S, Strasser A. Loss of c-REL but not NFkB2 prevents autoimmune disease driven by FasL mutation. Cell Death Differ. 2015 May;22(5):767-78. PMID: 25361085