Marina Pajic
Conjoint Senior Lecturer
Cancer Therapeutics
Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Australia
Biography
Dr Marina Pajic completed her PhD in the laboratory of Prof Michelle Haber at the Children’s Cancer Institute (CCI), University of New South Wales, where she investigated chemoresistance mechanisms in childhood cancers, supported by a University Postgraduate Award and a CCI Postgraduate Scholarship. On completion of her PhD Dr Pajic joined the renowned group of Prof Piet Borst at the Netherlands Cancer Institute where she established physiologically-relevant mouse models to study mechanisms of chemoresistance in breast cancer. This project resulted in funding approval from the Dutch government and key first and co-author publications.
Research Interest
Research Strategy: Overcoming therapy failure in pancreatic cancer: elucidation of mechanisms of chemoresistance and the development of novel treatment strategies. Main research interests: Prioritise and validate novel targets and therapeutic regimens in early development for the treatment of PC. Expand the portfolio and clinical relevance of preclinical models of PC to serve as a platform for evaluating and prioritising novel therapeutic strategies. Improve our understanding about the molecular evolution of tumours following therapy and the molecular mechanisms underpinning de novo and acquired resistance in PC.
Publications
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Pérez-Mancera PA, Rust AG, van der Weyden L, Kristiansen G, Li A, Sarver AL, Silverstein KA, Grützmann R, Aust D, Rümmele P, Knösel T, Herd C, Stemple DL, Kettleborough R, Brosnan JA, Li A, Morgan R, Knight S, Yu J, Stegeman S, Collier LS, ten Hoeve JJ, de Ridder J, Klein AP, Goggins M, Hruban RH, Chang DK, Biankin AV, Grimmond SM; Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative, Pajic M et al. The deubiquitinase USP9X suppresses pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Nature 2012; 486(7402):266-70
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Chang DK, Johns AL, Scarlett CJ, Pajic M. et al. Molecular Pathological Phenotypes and Outcome in Adenocarcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2013; 31(10):1348-56
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Waddell N, Pajic M, Patch AM, Chang DK, Kassahn KS, Bailey P, Johns AL, Miller D et al. Whole genomes redefine the mutational landscape of pancreatic cancer. Nature 2015 518(7540):495. * Significant national coverage, including interviews with Dr Pajic for SBS and Channel 7 national news.
