Dr Melanie Mcconnell
Professor
Department of Genetics
Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
New Zealand
Biography
Dr Melanie McConnell received a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Otago, working to understand regulation of gene expression during kidney development. After a postdoctoral fellowship comparing normal and leukaemia blood cell development in the Ruttenberg Cancer Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, she joined the faculty of the Division of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in the Department of Hematology and Oncology. Her research focused on the interaction between gene expression and cell biology during exposure of leukaemic cells to novel therapeutic agents, both in the laboratory and in patients. On her return to New Zealand, Melanie established the Cell Survival Research Group at the Malaghan Institute. In 2013 she took up a position at the School of Biological Sciences at Victoria University but continues to work closely with the Institute.
Research Interest
The primary focus of my research is to understand how cancer cells survive stress, and to apply this knowledge to the development of more effective cancer therapies. Cancer cells have to survive free radicals, lack of oxygen, reduced nutrients, and changes in metabolism. During chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments of cancer patients, these cells are subjected to further stress, yet some survive and go on to cause relapse and metastasis. This is thought to be due to the presence of cancer stem cells, which are drug and radiation resistant. My Cell Survival Research Group has established various methodologies including cell culture, human tumour culture, flow cytometry, real-time RT-PCR and immunofluorescence microscopy, to allow the identification of cancer stem cells and to characterise their function. We also use murine models of brain tumours, breast cancer and melanoma to study the different properties of cancer stem cells including self-renewal, therapy resistance and metastasis. In other work my research group is looking at how cellular survival pathways can be used to best advantage in diseases where accelerated cell death is a major concern, such as motor neurone disease.
Publications
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Berridge MV, Schneider R, McConnell MJ (2016) Mitochondrial transfer from astrocytes to neurons following ischemic insult: guilt by association? Cell Metab
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Berridge MV, McConnell MJ, Grasso C, Bajzikova M, Kovarova J, Neuzil J (2016) Horizontal transfer of mitochondria between mammalian cells: beyond co-culture approaches. Curr Opin Genetics Dev
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Connor LM, Tang SC, Cognard E, Ochiai S, Hilligan KL, Old SI, Pellefigues C, White RF, Patel D, Smith AA, Eccles DA, Lamiable O, McConnell MJ, Ronchese F (2017) Th2 responses are primed by skin dendritic cells with distinct transcriptional profiles. J Exp Med.
