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About

My research focuses on the role of stem cell biology in breast development and cancer. Together with Professor Geoff Lindeman, the Breast Cancer Laboratory has a long-standing interest in the stem cell differentiation hierarchy, identifying molecular regulators of normal development and deciphering mechanisms that lead to breast cancer.

Current efforts are directed towards further understanding the normal epithelial hierarchy and the cell subtypes that are most susceptible to becoming transformed in vivo, the so- called ‘cells of origin’. We are searching for markers that enable further purification and in situ tracking of stem cells to enhance our understanding of the heterogeneity that lies within this pool, using a combination of transplantation and cell lineage tracing studies.

We are also identifying transcriptional and epigenetic regulators that act along the hierarchy using gene-targeted models and CRISPR/CAS9 technology. Promoter-specific strains built in the laboratory enable us to interrogate both mammary gland development and potential cells of origin of cancer.

Using the latest single cell and spatial platforms, we are interrogating tumour heterogeneity at the gene expression and epigenetic levels as well as mapping the location of diverse cells in the tumour microenvironment. In conjunction, we are using multiplexed immunostaining platforms with >40 antibodies to identify and localise stromal and immune cells more precisely within tumours.

Publications

Selected publications from Prof Jane Visvader

Joyce R, Visvader JE. Cells-of-Origin of Breast Cancer and Intertumoral Heterogeneity. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 2025;1464:10.1007/978-3-031-70875-6_9

Dawson CA, Milevskiy MJG, Capaldo BD, Yip RKH, Song X, Vaillant F, Prokopuk L, Jackling FC, Smyth GK, Chen Y, Lindeman GJ, Visvader JE. Hormone-responsive progenitors have a unique identity and exhibit high motility during mammary morphogenesis. Cell Reports. 2024;43(12):10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115073

Ang CH, Arandjelovic P, Cheng J, Yang J, Guo F, Yu Y, Nelameham S, Whitehead L, Li J, Silver DL, Barker N, Visvader JE, Chow PKH, Smyth GK, Chen Y, Virshup DM, Fu NY. Self-maintenance of zonal hepatocytes during adult homeostasis and their complex plasticity upon distinct liver injuries. Cell Reports. 2024;44(1):10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115093

Visvader JE. Midkine links aging with breast cancer—A new predictor of cancer risk. Cancer Cell. 2024;42(11):10.1016/j.ccell.2024.09.003

Altman JE, Olex AL, Zboril EK, Walker CJ, Boyd DC, Myrick RK, Hairr NS, Koblinski JE, Puchalapalli M, Hu B, Dozmorov MG, Chen XS, Chen Y, Perou CM, Lehmann BD, Visvader JE, Harrell JC. Single‐cell transcriptional atlas of human breast cancers and model systems. Clinical and Translational Medicine. 2024;14(10):10.1002/ctm2.70044

Muttiah C, Martin F, Christie M, Dawson S-J, Desai J, Lal L, Moodie K, Murugasu A, Phan P, Rosenthal M, Travers A, Visvader J, Whittle JR, Lindeman G. 361P PALVEN: A phase Ib study of palbociclib, letrozole and venetoclax in ER and BCL2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Annals of Oncology. 2024;35:10.1016/j.annonc.2024.08.309

Nightingale R, Reehorst CM, Vukelic N, Papadopoulos N, Liao Y, Guleria S, Bell C, Vaillant F, Paul S, Luk IY, Dhillon AS, Jenkins LJ, Morrow RJ, Jackling FC, Chand AL, Chisanga D, Chen Y, Williams DS, Anderson RL, Ellis S, Meikle PJ, Shi W, Visvader JE, Pal B, Mariadason JM. Ehf controls mammary alveolar lineage differentiation and is a putative suppressor of breast tumorigenesis. Developmental Cell. 2024;59(15):10.1016/j.devcel.2024.04.022

Visvader JE, Rosen JM, Aparicio S. Breast Cancer. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 2024;14(8):10.1101/cshperspect.a041729

Altman JE, Walker CJ, Zboril EK, Hairr NS, Myrick RK, Boyd DC, Koblenski JE, Puchalapalli M, Hu B, Dozmorov MG, Chen X, Chen Y, Perou CM, Lehmann BD, Visvader JE, Olex AL, Harrell JC. Abstract 1750: Decoding breast cancer: Unraveling subtype and model differences through multi-model single-cell RNA sequencing data integration. Cancer Research. 2024;84(6_Supplement):10.1158/1538-7445.am2024-1750

Wang Z, Burigotto M, Ghetti S, Vaillant F, Tan T, Capaldo BD, Palmieri M, Hirokawa Y, Tai L, Simpson DS, Chang C, Huang AS, Lieschke E, Diepstraten ST, Kaloni D, Riffkin C, Huang DCS, Suen CSNLW, Garnham AL, Gibbs P, Visvader JE, Sieber OM, Herold MJ, Fava LL, Kelly GL, Strasser A. Loss-of-Function but Not Gain-of-Function Properties of Mutant TP53 Are Critical for the Proliferation, Survival, and Metastasis of a Broad Range of Cancer Cells. Cancer Discovery. 2024;14(2):10.1158/2159-8290.cd-23-0402

Lab research projects

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