Collaboration opportunities

Seeking cancer cell lines

Professor Kate Jolliffe, a synthetic chemist at the University of Sydney, has recently synthesised a natural product reported to be active against human bronchopulmonary non small cell lung carcinoma line (NSCLC-N6). Kate and her colleagues would like to test the cytotoxicity of the synthetic material against this cell line (by MTT assay) but they are having trouble finding a source of these cells.

If you might be able to provide Kate with this source, please contact her directly on 02 9351 2297 or at

Seeking a postdoctoral position investigating candidate genes for human diseases

Alesia Ivashkevich received a Master of Science in Radiobiology from the University College of London, UK, and completed a PhD in Radiation Biology at the Institute of Pathology at the Helmholtz Centre in Munich, Germany. She has also worked for one year as a Research Officer at the St Vincent’s Institute in Melbourne.

Alesia’s has previously been involved in a number of projects including the study of the accumulation of mitochondrial mutations after irradiation/with age, immunohistological characterization of the eyeless (EYL) mouse and finding the mutation in the Pitx3 gene (the publication is submitted), and investigation of radiosensitivity of LEC rats at the cellular level and the analysis of candidate genes. At the St Vincent’s Institute she studied the function of a novel protein in DNA repair pathways in terms of phosphorylation and foci formation.

She has a strong background in pathways of DNA repair, cell cycle and cancer, as well as the identification of genes involved in human pathological conditions.

Alesia is currently looking for a postdoctoral position in Sydney, and is particularly interested in the investigation of candidate genes for human diseases and in characterization of their function, regulation, and involvement in signalling pathways.

If you might have an opportunity for Alesia please contact her directly via .

If you would like a copy of Alesia’s resume please contact .

Seeking a postdoctoral position

Sajani Dias is a PhD student from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sajani expects to complete all requirements for the degree by July 2009. Her dissertation is titled “The Genetic Diversity of Plasmodium vivax Asexual Blood Stage Antigens and the Ensuing Strain Specific Immunity in Endemic Populations in Sri Lanka”. This study explores the diversity of two asexual blood stage vaccine candidates that are present on the surface of the parasite stage “merozoite”.

Sajani has co-authored a paper published in a leading Sri Lankan journal and currently three other manuscripts are in preparation for three separate peer reviewed international journals.

She has sound experience with DNA Extraction, PCR, Agarose Gel Electrophoresis, Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), PCR product purification and ELISA techniques. Sajani is currently using bioinformatics tools to analyze her research data to study population genetics and evolutionary relationships. Furthermore, Sajani is familiar with RT-PCR, Flow Cytometry techniques by participation in a training workshop in “Advanced WHO/TDR Course on Immunology, Vaccinology and Biotechnology Applied to Infectious Diseases”, organized by the WHO in Switzerland. She has also been exposed to techniques such as Southern hybridization, RNA extraction and Cloning of PCR products in plasmid vectors and transformation during a workshop organized by the Molecular Medicine Unit of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Sajani has a strong interest in continuing her research in the field of cancer and is interested in applying for a postdoctoral position.

If you might have an opportunity for Sajani please contact her directly via .

If you would like a copy of Sajani’s resume please contact .

Seeking clinical collaborators in breast cancer research

Dr Alistair McEwan is a new lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney. He has worked on a new medical imaging technology at University College London and Philips, Germany. The technology is Impedance Tomography which induces insensible electrical currents into the body and produces an image of the impedance distribution. While it can not compete with MRI or CT on spatial resolution (the images are rather like FMRI or PET) it can be extremely portable (our current device is the size of an ipod) and uses no ioniszing radiation. These features make it attractive for GP offices, front line screening applications where a positive reading would be followed up by traditional imaging.

Dr McEwan believes that he has a good opportunity at the University of Sydney to trial an improved device with the expertise of Professor Hans Coster in Chemical Engineering and after discussions with him he is looking for clinical contacts in breast cancer screening, surgery or oncology who would be interested in being involved in trialling the device.

Having spent the last 6 years working with clinicians, Dr McEwan realises they are extremely busy with very limited time to entertain new research methods, however he would be able to offer support and in the first instance are looking for clinical guidance and advice with the thinking to apply for a grant to hire a technician to run some field trials. Perhaps there are other research projects already running that Dr McEwan and Professor Hans Coster could join?

If you might be interested in collaborating with Dr McEwan, please contact him directly via or on 02 9351 7256.

Seeking a research assistant position in biomedical science

Marie Rayeroux is a biomedical science student at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), who will be graduating in May this year. She is a very high achieving student with a GPA of 3.69 and a HD average of 87%.

Next year she intends to undertake postgraduate study, but in the meantime she is seeking a research assistant position in medical research to gain insight into what research actually constitutes.

Despite having no laboratory experience, Marie has a can-do attitude and a strong willingness to learn new techniques. She also possesses excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and exceptional organisational skills, which she has demonstrated in the jobs she has undertaken thus far.

If you might have an opportunity for Marie, please contact her directly via .

If you would like a copy of Marie’s resume and/or academic record please contact .

Seeking a PhD opportunity in inherited cancer syndromes

Bhavya Vora recently completed a Master of Science (Medical Genetics) at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Bhavya is interested in undertaking a PhD at the University of Sydney in inherited cancer syndromes. Bhavya has prepared two research proposals and is seeking support for admission into a PhD program:

• Isolation and sequencing of BRCA3: Another clue in quest for holly grail?
• Comparative study of Low Penetrance Genes: Role in Breast Cancer

If you might be able to assist, please contact Bhavya via .

If you would like a copy of Bhavya’s resume please email .

Seeking a research position in cancer genetics or molecular biology

Dr Anubha Saxena recently completed a PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology at JMI University in India and now resides in Sydney.

Dr Saxena has five years research experience having worked on breast cancer methylation, polymorphism and gene expression analysis; and molecular studies of drug resistance in Leishmania and the detection of cytomegalovirus in human test samples using ELISA and nested PCR.

Dr Saxena has expertise in a range of techniques and methodologies including DNA, RNA, protein handling, plasmid isolation, PCR, Western Blot, ELISA, cloning and immunohistochemistry. In addition to research, Dr Saxena has worked as a part-time lecturer (undergraduate and postgraduate) at JMI University.

Dr Saxena would like to continue to pursue a career in cancer research. If you have a might have a research opportunity, please contact Dr Saxena directly via email.

To obtain a copy of Dr Saxena’s resume, please contact Merilyn Heuschkel via .

Seeking a lecturing or research opportunity

Dr Maryam Shojaei gained a PhD degree in Science (biochemistry) from the University of Sydney in 2005. Since graduating she has worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Tabriz in Iran.

Having recently returned to Australia, Dr Shojaei would like to work as a lecturer or researcher at the University of Sydney in one of the following areas:

• Over-expression of the foreign proteins in e.coli
• Purification, characterization and crystallization of protein
• Biosensors
• Metabolic disease

If you might have an opportunity for Dr Shojaei, please contact her directly via .

To obtain a copy of Dr Siddique’s resume, please contact Merilyn Heuschkel via .