Team

We collaborate with many research groups at the institute that have overlapping interests, particularly in the Cancer and Haematology, Chemical Biology, Inflammation, and Molecular Genetics of Cancer divisions.

Gabriela Brumatti, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, BSc (Hons) Sao Paolo PhD Sao Paolo
Project: The use of IAP antagonists to treat cancer
Key Publication: Brumatti G, Ma C, Lalaoui N, Nguyen NY, Navarro M, Tanzer MC, Richmond J, Ghisi M, Salmon JM, Silke N, Pomilio G, Glaser SP, de Valle E, Gugasyan R, Gurthridge MA, Condon SM, Johnstone RW, Lock R, Salvesen G, Wei A, Vaux DL, Ekert PG, Silke J. The caspase-8 inhibitor emricasan combines with the SMAC mimetic birinapant to induce necroptosis and treat acute myeloid leukemia. Sci Transl Med. 2016 May 18;8(339):339ra69. PMID:  27194727

Najoua Lalaoui, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD France
Project: Mechanisms of TNF induction by Smac-mimetics
Key Publication: Lalaoui N, Hänggi K, Brumatti G, Chau D, Nguyen NY, Vasilikos L, Spilgies LM,  Heckmann DA, Ma C, Ghisi M, Salmon JM, Matthews GM, de Valle E, Moujalled DM, Menon MB, Spall SK, Glaser SP, Richmond J, Lock RB, Condon SM, Gugasyan R, Gaestel M, Guthridge M, Johnstone RW, Munoz L, Wei A, Ekert PG, Vaux DL, Wong WW, Silke J. Targeting p38 or MK2 Enhances the Anti-Leukemic Activity of Smac-Mimetics. Cancer Cell. 2016 Feb 8;29(2):145-58. PMID: 26859455

Ueli Nachbur, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD Berne
Project: NOD signalling regulation by IAPs and RIPK2
Key Publication: Nachbur U, Brumatti G. Lentiviral Vectors to Analyze Cell Death Regulators. Methods Mol Biol. 2016;1419:265-76. PMID: 27108445

Joanne Hildebrand, Postdoctoral Fellow, BBiomedSc (Hons) Melbourne, PhD Melbourne
Project: Understanding the biological regulation of MLKL and its role in necroptotic cell death
Key Publication: Hildebrand, JM, Murphy JM. The highway to Hell: A RIP kinase-directed shortcut to inflammatory cytokine production. Immunity. 2016 Jul 19;45(1):1-3. PMID: 27438758

Holly Anderton, PhD Student, BA Canterbury BSc(Hons) Canterbury
Project: What role do TNF super family members play in inflammatory skin disease?
Key Publication: Etemadi N, Chopin M, Anderton H, Tanzer MC, Rickard JA, Abeysekera W, Hall C,  Spall SK, Wang B, Xiong Y, Hla T, Pitson SM, Bonder CS, Wong WW, Ernst M, Smyth GK, Vaux DL, Nutt SL, Nachbur U, Silke J. TRAF2 regulates TNF and NF-κB signalling to suppress apoptosis and skin inflammation independently of Sphingosine kinase 1. Elife. 2015 Dec 23;4. PubMed PMID: 26701909

Denise Heckmann, PhD Student, BSc Mannheim 
Project: How do Smac-mimetics induce production of TNF?

Valentin Heim, PhD Student
Project: What is the role of RIPK2 in NOD signalling?

Oscar Liu, PhD Student
Project: How does MLKL kill cells?

Emma Morrish, PhD Student, BSc(Hons) Melbourne
Project: Can birinapant be combined with other drugs to kill AML cells?

Che Stafford, PhD Student, BSc La Trobe, BSc(Hons) Melbourne
Project: Role of cIAPs, Sharpin and RIPK2 in NOD signalling
Key Publication: Nachbur U, Stafford CA, Bankovacki A, Zhan Y, Lindqvist LM, Fiil BK, Khakham Y, Ko HJ, Sandow JJ, Falk H, Holien JK, Chau D, Hildebrand J, Vince JE, Sharp PP, Webb AI, Jackman KA, Mühlen S, Kennedy CL, Lowes KN, Murphy JM, Gyrd-Hansen M, Parker MW, Hartland EL, Lew AM, Huang DC, Lessene G, Silke J. A RIPK2 inhibitor delays NOD signalling events yet prevents inflammatory cytokine production. Nat Commun. 2015 Mar 17;6:6442. PMID: 25778803

Maria Tanzer, PhD Student, BSc Innsbruck, MSc Innsbruck
Project: How do TNF and IFNγ signaling intersect?
Key Publication: Tanzer MC, Matti I, Hildebrand JM, Young SN, Wardak A, Tripaydonis A, Petrie EJ, Mildenhall AL, Vaux DL, Vince JE, Czabotar PE, Silke J, Murphy JM. Evolutionary divergence of the necroptosis effector MLKL. Cell Death Differ. 2016 Jul;23(7):1185-97. PMID: 26868910

Anthony Copeland, Honours Student, BSc Melbourne

Tom Peers-Barlow, Honours Student, BBiomedSc Deakin

Kristin Rigbye, Honours Student, BBiomedSc RMIT

Aleksandra Bankovacki, Research Assistant, BSc(Hons) La Trobe