Drug Discovery Group

Group Leader         

Professor Peter Parsons

Summary

This laboratory combines expertise in cancer biology with genomics and drug discovery. Research into cell communication networks in sun-induced cancers, cancers of the head and neck, and ovarian cancer reveal responses that address important issues of prevention and treatment.

The group identifies and studies the function of genes that are important in the development and treatment of certain cancers to discover agents that can be aimed at specific targets. Several such genes have been identified in melanoma, ovarian cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, and breast cancer and are being followed up at the functional level.

This laboratory has access to:

• A unique library of natural products from the rainforest of northern Australia, some with potential for treatment of various types of cancer
• The Queensland Chemical Library based at Griffith University
• A selected set of human tumour cell lines for discovery and evaluation of new anti-cancer agents

Understanding what ultraviolet light does to cells in the skin, and how melanoma starts, could be useful in preventing cancers. Information about molecular changes in normal and cancer cells will help develop new drugs for treating melanomas and other types of cancer.

Conditions researched

• Skin cancer
• Melanoma
• Ovarian cancer
• Other cancers including breast and nose and throat cancer

Current research

• The role of MIC-1 in the acute response to solar UV and in progression of human melanoma
• Discovery of prognostic and progression markers in head and neck and ovarian cancer
• Discovery and development of natural products active against human cancers

Staff

Group Leader: Professor Peter Parsons

Postdoctoral staff: Dr Glen Boyle

Research Assistants: Julie Pedley, Adam Martin, Jenny Johns, Lauren Aoude, Carly Pierce, Blake Ferguson

Postgraduate student: Richard Barr

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the support from the following funding agencies:

• National Health and Medical Research Council
• Eco Biotics Ltd

Collaborators

Professor Adèle Green, Cancer and Population Studies Group, QIMR

Professor Nick Hayward, Oncogenomics Laboratory, QIMR

Dr Rick Sturm, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, UQ

Dr David Fairlie, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, UQ

Dr Sam Briet, St Vincents Hospital, Sydney