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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

Mukohara T, Park YH, Sommerhalder D, Yonemori K, Hamilton E, Kim S-B, Kim JH, Iwata H, Yamashita T, Layman RM, Mita M, Clay T, Chae YS, Oakman C, Yan F, Kim GM, Im S-A, Lindeman GJ, Rugo HS, Liyanage M, Saul M, Le Corre C, Skoura A, Liu L, Li M, LoRusso PM. Inhibition of lysine acetyltransferase KAT6 in ER+HER2− metastatic breast cancer: a phase 1 trial. Nature Medicine. 2024;30(8):10.1038/s41591-024-03060-0

Mukohara T, Park YH, Sommerhalder D, Yonemori K, Hamilton E, Kim S-B, Kim JH, Iwata H, Yamashita T, Layman RM, Mita M, Clay T, Chae YS, Oakman C, Yan F, Kim GM, Im S-A, Lindeman GJ, Rugo HS, Liyanage M, Saul M, Le Corre C, Skoura A, Liu L, Li M, LoRusso PM. Author Correction: Inhibition of lysine acetyltransferase KAT6 in ER+HER2− metastatic breast cancer: a phase 1 trial. Nature Medicine. 2024;30(8):10.1038/s41591-024-03129-w

McDonald JA, Liao Y, Knight JA, John EM, Kurian AW, Daly M, Buys SS, Huang Y, Frost CJ, Andrulis IL, Colonna SV, Friedlander ML, Hopper JL, Chung WK, Genkinger JM, MacInnis RJ, Terry MB, Amor D, Andrews L, Antill Y, Balleine R, Beesley J, Bennett I, Bogwitz M, Bodek S, Botes L, Brennan M, Brown M, Buckley M, Burke J, Butow P, Caldon L, Campbell I, Cao M, Chakrabarti A, Chauhan D, Chauhan M, Chenevix-Trench G, Christian A, Cohen P, Colley A, Crook A, Cui J, Courtney E, Cummings M, Dawson S-J, deFazio A, Delatycki M, Dickson R, Dixon J, Edwards S, Farshid G, Fellows A, Fenton G, Field M, Flanagan J, Fong P, Forrest L, Fox S, French J, Friedlander M, Gaff C, Gattas M, George P, Greening S, Harris M, Hart S, Harraka P, Hayward N, Hopper J, Hoskins C, Hunt C, James P, Jenkins M, Kidd A, Kirk J, Koehler J, Kollias J, Lakhani S, Lawrence M, Lee J, Li S, Lindeman G, Lippey J, Lipton L, Lobb L, Loi S, Mann G, Marsh D, McLachlan SA, Meiser B, Milne R, Nightingale S, O’Connell S, O’Sullivan S, Gallego Ortega D, Pachter N, Pang J-M, Pathak G, Patterson B, Pearn A, Phillips K, Pieper E, Ramus S, Rickard E, Ragunathan A, Robinson B, Saleh M, Skandarajah A, Salisbury E, Saunders C, Saunus J, Savas P, Scott R, Scott C, Sexton A, Shaw J, Shelling A, Srinivasa S, Simpson P, Southey M, Spurdle A, Taylor J, Taylor R, Thorne H, Trainer A, Tucker K, Visvader J, Walker L, Williams R, Winship I, Young MA, Zaheed M. Pregnancy-Related Factors and Breast Cancer Risk for Women Across a Range of Familial Risk. JAMA Network Open. 2024;7(8):10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.27441

Mukohara T, Park YH, Sommerhalder D, Yonemori K, Kim S-B, Kim JH, Iwata H, Yamashita T, Layman RM, Kim GM, Im S-A, Lindeman GJ, Rugo HS, Liyanage M, Homji Mishra N, Maity A, Bogg O, Liu L, Li M, LoRusso P. A phase 1 dose expansion study of a first-in-class KAT6 inhibitor (PF-07248144) in patients with advanced or metastatic ER+ HER2− breast cancer.Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2024;42(16_suppl):10.1200/jco.2024.42.16_suppl.3006

Campbell I, Devereux L, Hogg K, Lal L, Sinclair M, Stafford L, Zethoven M, Skandarajah A, James P, Lindeman G, Mann B, De Silva D. Abstract PO2-08-11: The MAGIC study: Universal whole genome tumour and germline sequencing of newly diagnosed breast cancer identifies a high proportion of ER+ BRCA-like tumours. Cancer Research. 2024;84(9_Supplement):10.1158/1538-7445.sabcs23-po2-08-11

De Silva D, Stafford L, Skandarajah A, Sinclair M, Devereux L, Hogg K, Kentwell M, Park A, Lal L, Zethoven M, Jayawardena M, Chan F, James P, Lindeman G, Campbell I, Mann B. Abstract PO1-09-02: Universal genetic testing for women with newly diagnosed breast cancer identified many mutations, impacted clinical management and caused no psychological distress to patients. Cancer Research. 2024;84(9_Supplement):10.1158/1538-7445.sabcs23-po1-09-02

Thompson EJ, Escarbe S, Tvorogov D, Farshid G, Gregory PA, Khew-Goodall Y, Madden S, Ingman WV, Lindeman GJ, Lim E, Lopez AF, Bonder CS. Interleukin-3 production by basal-like breast cancer cells is associated with poor prognosis. Growth Factors. 2024;42(2):10.1080/08977194.2023.2297693

Whittle JR, Vaillant F, Surgenor E, Heitink L, Muttiah C, Visvader JE, Lindeman GJ. Abstract IA26: Exploring breast cancer vulnerabilities through apoptotic pathways. Cancer Research. 2024;84(3_Supplement_1):10.1158/1538-7445.advbc23-ia26

Joyce R, Pascual R, Heitink L, Capaldo BD, Vaillant F, Christie M, Tsai M, Surgenor E, Anttila CJA, Rajasekhar P, Jackling FC, Trussart M, Milevskiy MJG, Song X, Li M, Teh CE, Gray DHD, Smyth GK, Chen Y, Lindeman GJ, Visvader JE. Identification of aberrant luminal progenitors and mTORC1 as a potential breast cancer prevention target in BRCA2 mutation carriers. Nature Cell Biology. 2024;26(1):10.1038/s41556-023-01315-5

Milevskiy MJG, Coughlan HD, Kane SR, Johanson TM, Kordafshari S, Chan F, Tsai M, Surgenor E, Wilcox S, Allan RS, Chen Y, Lindeman GJ, Smyth GK, Visvader JE. Three-dimensional genome architecture coordinates key regulators of lineage specification in mammary epithelial cells. Cell Genomics. 2023;3(11):10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100424

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