Associate Professor
Pamela Pollock

Biography

Current Affiliations

• School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, QUT
• Cancer Program, Chronic Disease and Aging Theme, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, QUT
• Translational Research Institute, PA hospital campus, Brisbane.

Professional Training
I completed my BSc at the University of Queensland in 1991 and then travelled to the UK where I worked as a research assistant (RA) at St Mary's hospital, London for 18 months before returning to Brisbane.  I then graduated with first class honours from the CMCB (now IMB) in 1994 after which I moved to the Queensland Institute of Medical Research  (QIMR) where I worked as an RA before completing my PhD in the lab of Dr Nick Hayward in melanoma genetics in 2000. I received an NHMRC CJ Martin postdoctoral fellowship and finished a three year postdoc at the NIH (NHGRI) in Bethesda, Maryland in the lab of Prof Jeffrey Trent before being recruited as a founding faculty member to the Translational Genomic Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona. Here I headed a lab focused on both melanoma and endometrial cancer and received excellent training in translational research. I returned to QUT, Australia in 2010 on a Vice Chancellors Fellowship and received an NHMRC CDF2 fellowship from 2012-2016.
My laboratory has a focus on endometrial (uterine) cancer and personalising new anti-cancer therapies based on the underlying molecular aberrations. We are one of the few labs in Australia studying cancer cell biology and evaluating new therapeutic agents for  endometrial cancer, an under-researched gynaecological cancer. One of the strengths of our lab is that we are involved in a range of projects that span from the very "basic" (e.g. studies into FGFR receptor function) to the preclinical (e.g. in vitro and in vivo testing of single and combination drugs) and the translational (e.g. identifying predictive biomarkers in patient samples from clinical trials).  We utilise a variety of cutting edge technologies including genomics, proteomics, phospho-proteomics as well as high resolution live cell microscopy. Our laboratory has developed a panel of novel patient derived xenograft (PDX) models of endometrial cancer. These novel PDX models have been genomically characterised and the lab is currently optimising the testing of traditional chemotherapies and molecular targeted therapies in organoids derived from these models. Dr Pollock has several ongoing projects in the lab available to potential Honours, Masters and PhD students. These include but are not limited to the following:

• Detailed cell biology studies to understand the molecular mechanisms by which activating mutations in the oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase (FGFR2) drive multiple hallmarks of cancer (proliferation, migration, invasion etc)
• Identification of the various mechanisms underlying intrinsic and acquired resistance to FGFR inhibition in cell line and PDX models
• In vitro and in vivo analyses of the mechanism by which oncogenic FGFR2 activation drives an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment
• Evaluation of new drugs and drug combinations on genomically characterised patient derived organoid cultures and patient derived xenograft mouse models

At QUT, PhD scholarship applications are due at the end of September for a start in Jan-June of the following year. These applications are highly competitive and require an excellant GPA and/or demonstrated research expertise evidenced by publications. Occasionally there might be opportunities outside of this annual scholarship round and so interested potential students are invited to email me with their CV.