Dr Neil Portman
Biography
Neil completed his PhD in the field of molecular cell biology at the University of Oxford, UK. He worked on the single-celled eukaryotic parasite Trypanosoma brucei, etiological agent of African sleeping sickness, with a particular focus on the cytoskeleton and flagellum. He moved to the University of Sydney in 2012 after being awarded a Vice Chancellor’s postdoctoral fellowship to continue his interest in the biology of the eukaryotic flagellum in another model of parasitic disease, the apicomplexan.
After a short career break being a full time dad, he joined the Connie Johnson Breast Cancer Research Group at Garvan where he is applying his background in molecular biology, genome editing and proteomics techniques to generate and interrogate models of endocrine resistant breast cancer with the aim of identifying novel therapeutic strategies to improve outcomes for patients with advanced breast cancer.
Neil completed his PhD in the field of molecular cell biology at the University of Oxford, UK. He worked on the single-celled eukaryotic parasite Trypanosoma brucei, etiological agent of African sleeping sickness, with a particular focus on the cytoskeleton and flagellum. He moved to the University of Sydney in 2012 after being awarded a Vice Chancellor’s postdoctoral fellowship to continue his interest in the biology of the eukaryotic flagellum in another model of parasitic disease, the apicomplexan.
After a short career break being a full time dad, he joined the Connie Johnson Breast Cancer Research Group at Garvan where he is applying his background in molecular biology, genome editing and proteomics techniques to generate and interrogate models of endocrine resistant breast cancer with the aim of identifying novel therapeutic strategies to improve outcomes for patients with advanced breast cancer.
Awards and Honours
Education
1999 - BSc (Hons), University of Leicester - UK
Selected Publications
Lim, E., Tarulli, G., Portman, N., Hickey, T.E., Tilley, W.D., Palmieri, C. (2016). Pushing estrogen receptor around in breast cancer. Endocr Relat Cancer, 23(12), T227-T241.
Portman, N. and Gull, K. (2014). Identification of paralogous life-cycle stage specific cytoskeletal proteins in the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. PLoS One, 9(9), e106777.
Portman, N., Foster, C., Walker, G., Slapeta, J. (2014). Evidence of intraflagellar transport and apical complex formation in a free-living relative of the apicomplexa. Eukaryot Cell, 13(1), 10-20.
Portman, N., Lacomble, S., Thomas, B., McKean, P.G., Gull, K. (2009) Combining RNA interference mutants and comparative proteomics to identify protein components and dependences in a eukaryotic flagellum. J Biol Chem, 284(9), 5610-9.
Broadhead, R.*, Dawe, H.*, Farr, H.*, Griffiths, S.*, Hart, S.*, Portman, N.*, Shaw, M.K., Ginger, M.L., Gaskell, S.J., McKean, P.G., Gull, K. (2006) Flagellar motility is required for the viability of the bloodstream trypanosome. Nature, 440(7081), 224-7. *Joint first author
