Dr Alex Swarbrick
Senior Research Officer, Group Leader, Tumour Progression Group, Cancer Program, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, & Conjoint Lecturer, UNSW
Email: a.swarbrick"at"garvan.org.au
Research Group: Tumour Progression
Alex joined Garvan In January 2007 after undertaking postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate J. Michael Bishop at the University of California, San Francisco. His lab investigates the protein coding genes and microRNAs controlling the self renewal, differentiation and metastasis of cancer cells.
He aims to expand the basic understanding of cancer progression to allow the development of better therapeutic strategies for hard-to-treat cancers. His lab uses a range of model systems, including 2D and 3D cell culture, animal models and human tissues. They also collaborate closely with our colleagues in the Cancer Research Program who bring expertise in signal transduction, anatomical pathology, tissue banking and developmental biology.
Awards
2007 Sydney University Medal for Excellence in Medical Research
2005 CJ Martin Fellowship from the NHMRC
2004 Murdoch Fellowship from the American Australian Association
2003 Moredzadeh Fellowship for cancer research
2002 St Vincents and Mater Health primary award for excellence in research
Selected Publications
Swarbrick, A*., Woods, S.L., Balakrishnan, A.S., Phua, Y., Nguyen, A., Chanthery, Y., Lim, L., Ashton, L.J., Judson, R.L., Huskey, N., Blelloch, R., Haber, M., Norris, M.D., Lengyel, P., Hackett, C.S., Preiss, T., Chetcuti, A., Sullivan, C.S., Marcusson, E.G., Weiss, W., L’Etoile, N., and Goga, A*. (2010). miR-380-5p represses p53 to control cellular survival and is associated with poor outcome in MYCN amplified neuroblastoma.* Co-corresponding authors. Nature Medicine October 2010. DOI 10.1038/nm.2227
Hochgräfe, F., Zhang, L., O’Toole, S., Browne, B.C., Pinese, M., Porta Cubas, A., Lehrbach, G.M., Croucher, D.R., Rickwood, D., Boulghourjian, A., Shearer, R., Nair, R., Swarbrick, A., Biankin, A.V., Sutherland, R.L., J., R.M., and Daly, R.J. (2010). Tyrosine phosphorylation profiling reveals the signaling network characteristics of basal breast cancer cells. Cancer Research Accepted CAN-10-0911R.
Mellick, A.S., Plummer, P.N., Nolan, D.J., Gao, D., Bambino, K., Hahn, M., Catena, R., Turner, V., McDonnell, K., Benezra, R., Brink, R., Swarbrick, A., and Mittal, V. (2010). Using the transcription factor inhibitor of DNA binding 1 to selectively target endothelial progenitor cells offers novel strategies to inhibit tumor angiogenesis and growth. Cancer Research 70, 7273-7282.
Nair, R., Junankar, S., O'Toole, S., Shah, J., Borowsky, A.D., Bishop, J.M., and Swarbrick, A. (2010). Redefining the expression and function of the inhibitor of differentiation 1 in mammary gland development. PLoS ONE 5, e11947.
Caldon, C.E., Swarbrick, A., Lee, C.S.L., Sutherland, R.L., and Musgrove, E.A. (2008). The Helix-Loop-Helix Protein Id1 Requires Cyclin D1 to Promote the Proliferation of Mammary Epithelial Cell Acini. Cancer Research 68, 3026-3036.
Swarbrick, A*., Roy, E., Allen, T., and Bishop, J.M.* (2008). Id1 cooperates with oncogenic Ras to induce metastatic mammary carcinoma by subversion of the cellular senescence response. * Co-corresponding authors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105, 5402-5407.
Swarbrick, A., Åkerfeldt, M.C., Lee, C.S.L., Sergio, C.M., Caldon, C.E., Hunter, L.-J.K., Sutherland, R.L., and Musgrove, E.A. (2005). Regulation of cyclin expression and cell cycle progression in breast epithelial cells by the helix-loop-helix protein Id1. Oncogene 24, 381-389.
Swarbrick, A., Lee, C.S., Sutherland, R.L., and Musgrove, E.A. (2000). Cooperation of p27(Kip1) and p18(INK4c) in progestin-mediated cell cycle arrest in T-47D breast cancer cells. Molecular and Cellular Biology 20, 2581-2591.
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