Cancer prevention strategies targeted to windows of increased breast cancer risk have the potential to increase treatment efficacy, while reducing side-effects of long-term treatments. My research project tests the efficacy of vitamin D, an agent with anti-cancer actions, for the prevention of cancers that arise in the postpartum period. This research is supported by the Prevent Cancer Foundation Stohlman Family Grant in memory of Richard Stohlman and Margaret Weigand.Link: https://www.preventcancer.org/research/researcher-profiles/

Emerging in the clinic are tests which use gene expression profiling to help guide treatment decision-making in breast cancer. However, despite their availability to premenopausal women, these tests have been developed and validated predominantly in postmenopausal women. In premenopausal women, hormones estrogen and progesterone fluctuate dramatically during the menstrual cycle. The impact of fluctuating hormones on breast cancer gene expression—and subsequent treatment recommendations—remains unknown. It is unclear whether these tests are appropriate for use in premenopausal women.My research explored how hormonal fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle affect breast cancer gene expression, and subsequent treatment recommendations. Outcomes of my research aimed to identify whether these tests are appropriate at guiding treatment decisions in premenopausal women.

Thesis title: The effect of menstrual cycling on genomic predictive biomarkers in premenopausal breast cancerLink to thesis: https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/127279

Key responsibilities included customer service, shift supervisor, cash reconciliation, and food preparation.

Project title: Absolute quantification of influenza viral antigens hemagglutinin and neuraminidase using liquid chromatography coupled mass spectrometry.During my final year of my undergraduate degree I undertook an 8 week laboratory placement within the Adelaide Proteomics Centre. My project focused on using LC-MS for the absolute quantification of viral antigens. Reliable methods of rapid quantification of HA and NA antigens are required to reduce the time between strain identification and vaccine release, which is critical during pandemic outbreaks. The aim of the project was to simultaneously quantify HA and NA surface antigens within an influenza vaccine using LC-MS through the use of a heavy labelled internal standard peptide, and determine whether the final protein concentrations of HA and NA were greater than the required protein concentration.

I was awarded an Adelaide Summer Research Scholarship, which allowed me to undertake a research project in the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, within the Structural Biology and Drug Design laboratory.The laboratory was interested in biotin protein ligase (BPL), a critical enzyme involved in bacterial metabolism, as a potential antibiotic drug target. Key responsibilities included expressing and purifying BPL from different species to be used in various applications, including enzyme activity and inhibition assays, NMR spectroscopy, and other technologies to assess potential BPL inhibitors.