-
Diseases
Technologies
Divisions
  • Cancer

About

I am a clinician-scientist and Joint Head of the ACRF Cancer Biology and Stem Cells Division and Breast Cancer Laboratory. I am also a medical oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital and hold an honorary appointment as Professorial Fellow in the Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne.

After medical oncology training in Sydney (RPA and Westmead Hospitals), I obtained my PhD at WEHI (Harris and Cory Laboratories), and then pursued postdoctoral training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School Livingston Laboratory).

On return to Australia, Professor Jane Visvader and I established a Breast Cancer Laboratory. Our group is studying molecular regulators of normal mammary gland development and cancer, with a particular interest in understanding how mammary stem cells and their progeny contribute to the mammary epithelial cell hierarchy and breast cancer. This work led to the discovery of RANK-positive progenitors as a target for breast cancer prevention in BRCA1 mutation carriers. Our laboratory is also using patient derived xenograft (PDX) and tumor organoid models to test promising anti-cancer agents.

Preclinical studies using BH3 mimetics have led to early phase studies of the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax in breast cancer.

Publications

Selected publications from Prof Geoff Lindeman

Lok SW, Whittle JR, Vaillant F, Teh CE, Lo LL, Policheni AN, Bergin ART, Desai J, Ftouni S, Gandolfo LC, Liew D, Liu HK, Mann GB, Moodie K, Murugasu A, Pal B, Roberts AW, Rosenthal MA, Shackleton K, Silva MJ, Siow ZR, Smyth GK, Taylor L, Travers A, Yeo B, Yeung MM, Bujak AZ, Dawson S-J, Gray DHD, Visvader JE, Lindeman GJ. A phase 1b dose-escalation and expansion study of the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax combined with tamoxifen in ER and BCL-2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Cancer Discovery. 2019;9(3):10.1158/2159-8290.cd-18-1151

Nolan E, Vaillant F, Branstetter D, Pal B, Giner G, Whitehead L, Lok SW, Mann GB, Rohrbach K, Huang L-Y, Soriano R, Smyth GK, Dougall WC, Visvader JE, Lindeman GJ. RANK ligand as a potential target for breast cancer prevention in BRCA1-mutation carriers. Nature Medicine. 2016;22(8):10.1038/nm.4118

Vaillant F, Merino D, Lee L, Breslin K, Pal B, Ritchie ME, Smyth GK, Christie M, Phillipson LJ, Burns CJ, Mann GB, Visvader JE, Lindeman GJ. Targeting BCL-2 with the BH3 Mimetic ABT-199 in Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer. Cancer Cell. 2013;24(1):10.1016/j.ccr.2013.06.002

Asselin-Labat M-L, Vaillant F, Sheridan JM, Pal B, Wu D, Simpson ER, Yasuda H, Smyth GK, Martin TJ, Lindeman GJ, Visvader JE. Control of mammary stem cell function by steroid hormone signalling. Nature. 2010;465(7299):10.1038/nature09027

Lim E, Vaillant F, Wu D, Forrest NC, Pal B, Hart AH, Asselin-Labat M-L, Gyorki DE, Ward T, Partanen A, Feleppa F, Huschtscha LI, Thorne HJ, Fox SB, Yan M, French JD, Brown MA, Smyth GK, Visvader JE, Lindeman GJ. Aberrant luminal progenitors as the candidate target population for basal tumor development in BRCA1 mutation carriers. Nature Medicine. 2009;15(8):10.1038/nm.2000

Shackleton M, Vaillant F, Simpson KJ, Stingl J, Smyth GK, Asselin-Labat M-L, Wu L, Lindeman GJ, Visvader JE. Generation of a functional mammary gland from a single stem cell. Nature. 2006;439(7072):10.1038/nature04372

Beard C, Skandarajah A, Lindeman GJ, Ward A, Monohan K, Atkinson C, Mann GB, James PA. Impact of mainstream genetic testing for breast cancer patients: five-year data from the Parkville Familial Cancer Centre. Familial Cancer. 2026;25(4):10.1007/s10689-026-00610-y

Kiver V, Fasching PA, Decker T, Schem C, Oliviera M, Layman RM, Giordano A, Mukohara T, Park YH, Lindeman GJ, Bianchini G, De Nonneville A, Dieras VC, Kahn A, Tao J, Kent S, Davis GM, Li M, Kalinsky KM, Kümmel S. TiP – Randomized phase 3 trial evaluating KAT6 inhibitor PF-07248144 plus fulvestrant in HR+HER−advanced/metastatic breast cancer after progression on CDK4/6 inhibitor-based therapy (KATSIS-1). Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde. 2026;86(10):10.1055/s-0046-1828633

Haggstrom L, Middleton K, Parker A, Segara D, Ong A, Bingham J, Carson E-K, Kiely BE, Sabanathan D, Spillane A, Saw K, Serrano A, Lindeman GJ, Swarbrick A, Coates A, Mann GB, Tilley W, Lim E. The WinPro trial: window-of-opportunity study of endocrine therapy with micronised progesterone in ER-positive breast cancer. npj Breast Cancer. 2026;:10.1038/s41523-026-01008-w

Singer CF, Garber JE, Brunet J, Howell SJ, Evans DG, Michaelson-Cohen R, Rhiem K, Schmutzler RK, Lindeman GJ, Gnant M. BRCA-P: Can denosumab reduce breast cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers?. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2026;44(16_suppl):10.1200/jco.2026.44.16_suppl.tps10630

Lab research projects

Interested in supporting our research?

Your support will help WEHI’s researchers make discoveries and find treatments to ensure healthier, longer lives for you and your loved ones.

Contact our friendly team to find out how you can help.

"*" indicates required fields

Secret Link