Gene Function and Therapies Staff

 Albert Mellick

 
  The Genomics Research Center on the Gold Coast is involved in the investigation of a diverse rage of human alignments, which all have in common underlying molecular genetic causes. These can be isolated with the aim of developing novel drugs, or unique genetic fingerprints, that can act as diagnostic marker of disease, and assist clinical diagnosis. As a member of the GRC and postgraduate student (PhD), I have had the privilege and the opportunity to apply methods in genetic analysis to identify specific diagnostic markers of breast cancer. In particular, those changes that may help pathologists predict which tumors are the most likely to spread and become cancerous. I have also sought to identify the underlying causes of malignancy, by investigating the role of cytokines and growth factors in disease, and through comparison with other disorders, such as colon cancer. In the last 4years, similar methods have been used to investigate the role of ovarian hormones (estrogen and progesterone) of biologically significant changes in brain tissue, as well as those changes that occur in the brain and related to certain diseases such as MS. All of these projects have in common the aim of identifying how the body responds to disease, and how seemingly benign tissue can be affects changes in disease pathology. Coincidently, breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, (which is more frequent in women, >66%) as well as the effects of ovarian produced hormones on changes in the brain, means that much of the work that I have conducted has had a specific focus on the molecular biology of women's health.