Radiation Biology and Oncology

Group Leader

Professor Martin Lavin

Summary

The Radiation Biology and Oncology Laboratory is studying the response of human cells to X-rays (radiation) and has selected the human genetic disorder ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) to facilitate this investigation. A-T is a useful model system because patients with this disorder are very sensitive to radiation, exhibit a progressive loss of brain function and have elevated risk of developing cancers including leukaemia and lymphoma of blood cells. What we are attempting to do is to determine how the protein product in this disease functions, with a view to solving its role in brain function, radiation sensitivity and susceptibility to develop cancer.

Conditions researched

• Ataxia-telangiectasia
• Ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 1 or 2  

Current research

The major area of research interest is centred on the genetics and biology of the human genetic disorder ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). Research areas include:

• Cancer in ATM "knock-in" mouse heterozygotes 
• Missense mutations but not allelic variants later the function of ATM by dominant interference in patients with breast cancer 
• Role of ATM in receptor signalling 
• Interaction of ATM with other proteins 
• Increasing radiotherapeutic benefit with antisense ATM
• Regulation of ATM 
• ATM localisation and expresssion  

Staff

Group Leader: Professor Martin Lavin

Postdoctoral staff: Dr Philip Chen, Dr Sergei Kozlov, Dr Olivier Becherel, Magtouf Gatei, Dr Amanda Wraith Kijas, Renee Stirling

Research Assistants: Aine Farrel, John Luff

Students: James Brown, Dr Teong Chuah, Stephen Earl, Janelle Hancock, Amila Suraweera, Kelly Landers

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following funding agencies:

• National Health and Medical Research Council
• Queensland Cancer Fund
• Australian Research Council
• A-T Children's Project
• National Institutes of Health; Washington
• The University of Queensland

Collaborators

Associate Professor R.A. Gardiner and Dr Michelle Burger, Deptartment of Surgery, The University of Queensland

Dr Dianne Watters, Griffith University

Dr R. Clarke and Professor J. Kearsley, The St George Hospital, Sydney

Dr Zvi Fuks, Department of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre

Dr Yosef Shiloh, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

Dr J. Ramsay, QRI Mater Hospital

Professor N. Kondo, Dr T. Fukao and Dr H. Kaneko, Gifu University School of Medicine

Dr Susan Lees-Miller, The University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Dr Richard Gatti, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles

Dr Nathan Ellis, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York