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About

My research interest is in developing personalized therapies for brain cancer, through the advanced investigation of the molecular features of cancer.

This expertise, together with Dr Sarah Best (clinical) and Dr Saskia Freytag (bioinformatics) provides the multidisciplinary foundations of the Brain Cancer Research Laboratory.

The research interests of the lab include:

  • research that is patient-centred and informed by consumers
  • integrating advanced diagnostics together with clinical data to discover new biomarkers
  • applying deep learning to identify prognostic biomarkers
  • developing new pre-clinical models of brain cancer
  • dissecting glioma heterogeneity and its microenvironment
  • identifying existing drugs for repurposing in brain cancer
  • establishing innovative clinical trial design strategies to progress new treatments and combinations for patients
  • support and collaboration across brain cancer research fields

Publications

Selected publications from Dr Jim Whittle

1. Mweempwa, A., Rosenthal, M, A., Dimou, J., Drummond, K, J., & WHITTLE, J, R. Perioperative clinical trials for glioma: raising the bar. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. 2021. *Senior and corresponding author. PMID: 34119258

2. WHITTLE, J, R., Vaillant, F., Surgeon, E., Policheni, A., Giner, G., Capaldo, B, D., Chen, H., Liu, H, K., Dekkers, J, F., Sachs, N., Clevers, H., Fellowes, A., Green, T., Xu, H., Fox, S, B., Herold, M, J., Smyth, G, K., Gray, D, H, D., Visvader, J, E., and Lindeman, G, J. Dual targeting of CDK4/6 and BCL2 pathways augments tumor response in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Clinical Cancer Research. 2020. PMID: 32245900

3. Dekkers, J, F.,* WHITTLE, J, R.,* Vaillant, F., Chen, H., Dawson, C., Liu, K., Geurts, M, H., Herold, M, J., Clevers, H., Lindeman, G, J., and Visvader J, E. Modelling breast cancer using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated engineering of human breast organoids. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2020. 112(5), 540 – 544. *Equal contribution. PMID: 31589320

4. Lok, S, W.,* WHITTLE, J, R.,* Vaillant, F., Teh, C., Lo, L, L., Policheni, A, N., Bergin, A, R, T., Desai, J., Ftouni, S., Gandolfo, L, C., Liew, D., Liu, H, K., Mann, G, B., Moodie, K., Murugasu, A., Pal, B., Roberts, A, W., Rosenthal, M, A., Shacleton, K., Silva, M, J., Siow, Z, R., Smyth, G, K., Taylor, L., Travers, A., Yeo, B., Yeung, M, M., Bujak, A, Z., Dawson, S, J., Gray, D, H, D., Visvader, J, E., and Lindeman, G, J. A phase Ib dose-escalation and expansion study of the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax combined with tamoxifen in ER and BCL2–positive metastatic breast cancer. Cancer Discovery. 2019. 9(3), 354 – 369. *Equal contribution. PMID: 30518523

5. Merino, D.*, WHITTLE, J, R.,* Vaillant, F.,* Serrano, A., Gong, J., Giner, G., Maragno, A, L., Scheider, E., Pal, B., Li, X., Dewson, G., Grasel, J., Liu, K., Lalaoui, N., Segal, D., Herold, M., Huang, D., Smyth, G., Geneste, O., Lessene, G., Visvader, J, E., and Lindeman, G, J. Synergistic action of the MCL-1 inhibitor S63845 with current therapies in preclinical models of triple- negative and HER2-amplified breast cancer. Science Translational Medicine. 2017. 9(401). *Equal contribution. PMID: 28768804

6. WHITTLE, J, R. Lickliter, J, D., Gan, H, K., Scott, A, M., Simes, J… and Rosenthal, M. First in human nanotechnology doxorubicin delivery system to target epidermal growth factor receptors in recurrent glioblastoma. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. 2015. 22(12): 1889 – 94. PMID: 26279503

Lab research projects

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