Dr Lauren Brown

Dr Lauren Brown

Conjoint Associate Lecturer

PhD (2019), Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Australia

BSc (degree with honours, 2015), Pathology/Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Medicine & Health
School of Clinical Medicine

I am a postdoctoral researcher currently working under the supervision of Associate Professor Paul Ekert in the Translational Tumour Biology research group at Children's Cancer Institute. I also hold an appointment as Conjoint Associate Lecturer at UNSW. The Translational Tumour Biology are a part of the Personalised Medicine theme at Children's Cancer Institute, meaning we have access to molecular data and primary samples from patients enrolled in the Zero Childhood Cancer Program (ZERO). ZERO is Australia's first precision medicine clinical trials for paediatric patients with high risk or relapsed cancers. These data and samples are an invaluable resource and guide our research to investigate novel mechanisms of oncogenesis and can potentially influence treatment approaches for patients with difficult to treat cancers. My key area of interest is oncogenic signal transduction. I use basic biology techniques to understand how specific molecular aberrations function to drive cancer and how these dependencies can be exploited for therapy. 

I completed my PhD at The University of Melbourne in 2019 which focussed on exploring the biological function and therapeutic targeting of tyrosine kinase fusion genes in paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. I have expertise in signal transduction, kinase signalling and apoptosis and possess a broad range of molecular and cellular biology technical skills.

We currently have a range of honours and PhD projects available within the Translational Tumour Biology group for prospective students. I am currently available to co-supervise students with Associate Professor Paul Ekert (Please see My Research Supervision for project details)

Location
Children's Cancer Institute, Lowy Cancer Research Centre
  • Journal articles | 2024
    Brown LM; Mayoh C; Mateos PA; De Weck A; Salomon R; Sadras T; Manoharan N; Wong M; Cowley MJ; Ekert PG, 2024, 'Abstract 1770: Right oncogene, wrong tumor - CBL mutations in pediatric CNS and solid tumors', Cancer Research, 84, pp. 1770 - 1770, http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.am2024-1770
    Journal articles | 2023
    Brown LM; Ekert PG; Fleuren EDG, 2023, 'Biological and clinical implications of FGFR aberrations in paediatric and young adult cancers', Oncogene, 42, pp. 1875 - 1888, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41388-023-02705-7
    Journal articles | 2023
    De Coninck S; De Smedt R; Lintermans B; Reunes L; Kosasih HJ; Reekmans A; Brown LM; Van Roy N; Palhais B; Roels J; Van der Linden M; Van Dorpe J; Ntziachristos P; Van Delft FW; Mansour MR; Pieters T; Lammens T; De Moerloose B; De Bock CE; Goossens S; Van Vlierberghe P, 2023, 'Targeting hyperactive platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β signaling in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoma.', Haematologica, 109, http://dx.doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2023.283981
    Journal articles | 2023
    Gu A; Schmidt B; Lonsdale A; Jalaldeen R; Kosasih HJ; Brown LM; Sadras T; Ekert PG; Oshlack A, 2023, 'TALLSorts: a T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia subtype classifier using RNA-seq expression data', Blood Advances, 7, pp. 7402 - 7406, http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2023010385
    Journal articles | 2023
    Sadras T; Jalud FB; Kosasih HJ; Horne CR; Brown LM; El-Kamand S; de Bock CE; McAloney L; Ng AP; Davidson NM; Ludlow LEA; Oshlack A; Cowley MJ; Khaw SL; Murphy JM; Ekert PG, 2023, 'Unusual PDGFRB fusion reveals novel mechanism of kinase activation in Ph-like B-ALL', Leukemia, 37, pp. 1 - 5, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41375-023-01843-x
    Journal articles | 2022
    Brown LM; Hediyeh-Zadeh S; Sadras T; Huckstep H; Sandow JJ; Bartolo RC; Kosasih HJ; Davidson NM; Schmidt B; Bjelosevic S; Johnstone R; Webb AI; Khaw SL; Oshlack A; Davis MJ; Ekert PG, 2022, 'SFPQ-ABL1 and BCR-ABL1 use different signaling networks to drive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia', Blood Advances, 6, pp. 2373 - 2387, http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2021006076
    Journal articles | 2022
    Schmidt B; Brown LM; Ryland GL; Lonsdale A; Kosasih HJ; Ludlow LE; Majewski IJ; Blombery P; Ekert PG; Davidson NM; Oshlack A, 2022, 'ALLSorts: an RNA-Seq subtype classifier for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia', Blood Advances, 6, pp. 4093 - 4097, http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2021005894
    Journal articles | 2021
    Schmidt B; Brown L; Ryland G; Lonsdale A; Kosasih H; Ludlow L; Majewski I; Blombery P; Ekert P; Davidson N; Oshlack A, 2021, 'ALLSorts: a RNA-Seq classifier for B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.01.454393
    Journal articles | 2020
    Brown LM; Lonsdale A; Zhu A; Davidson NM; Schmidt B; Hawkins A; Wallach E; Martin M; Mechinaud FM; Khaw SL; Bartolo RC; Ludlow LEA; Challis J; Brooks I; Petrovic V; Venn NC; Sutton R; Majewski IJ; Oshlack A; Ekert PG, 2020, 'The application of RNA sequencing for the diagnosis and genomic classification of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia', Blood Advances, 4, pp. 930 - 942, http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2019001008
    Journal articles | 2020
    Brown LM; Lonsdale A; Zhu A, 2020, 'Erratum: The application of RNA sequencing for the diagnosis and genomic classification of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Blood Advances (2020) 4:5 (930-942)DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2019001008)', Blood Advances, 4, pp. 1217, http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2020001859
    Journal articles | 2020
    Khuong-Quang DA; Brown LM; Wong M; Mayoh C; Sexton-Oates A; Kumar A; Pinese M; Nagabushan S; Lau L; Ludlow LE; Gifford AJ; Rodriguez M; Desai J; Fox SB; Haber M; Ziegler DS; Hansford JR; Marshall GM; Cowley MJ; Ekert PG; Wong-Erasmus M, 2020, 'Recurrent SPECC1L–NTRK fusions in pediatric sarcoma and brain tumors', Cold Spring Harbor Molecular Case Studies, 6, pp. mcs.a005710, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/MCS.A005710
    Journal articles | 2020
    Moujalled DM; Hanna DT; Hediyeh-Zadeh S; Pomilio G; Brown L; Litalien V; Bartolo R; Fleming S; Chanrion M; Banquet S; Maragno AL; Kraus-Berthier L; Schoumacher M; Mullighan CG; Georgiou A; White CA; Lessene G; Huang DCS; Roberts AW; Geneste O; Rasmussen L; Davis MJ; Ekert PG; Wei A; Ng AP; Khaw SL, 2020, 'Cotargeting BCL-2 and MCL-1 in high-risk B-ALL', Blood Advances, 4, pp. 2762 - 2767, http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2019001416
    Journal articles | 2019
    Brown LM; Bartolo RC; Davidson NM; Schmidt B; Brooks I; Challis J; Petrovic V; Khuong-Quang DA; Mechinaud F; Khaw SL; Majewski IJ; Oshlack A; Ekert PG, 2019, 'Targeted therapy and disease monitoring in CNTRL-FGFR1-driven leukaemia', Pediatric Blood and Cancer, 66, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pbc.27897
    Journal articles | 2017
    Brown LM; Hanna DT; Khaw SL; Ekert PG, 2017, 'Dysregulation of BCL-2 family proteins by leukemia fusion genes', Journal of Biological Chemistry, 292, pp. 14325 - 14333, http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.R117.799056
    Journal articles | 2017
    Narayan N; Morenos L; Phipson B; Willis SN; Brumatti G; Eggers S; Lalaoui N; Brown LM; Kosasih HJ; Bartolo RC; Zhou L; Catchpoole D; Saffery R; Oshlack A; Goodall GJ; Ekert PG, 2017, 'Functionally distinct roles for different miR-155 expression levels through contrasting effects on gene expression, in acute myeloid leukaemia', Leukemia, 31, pp. 808 - 820, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/leu.2016.279
  • Preprints | 2023
    Fordham A; Brown L; Mayoh C; Salib A; Barger Z; Wong M; Sian TCCLK; Xie J; Gunther K; Trebilcock P; Terry R; Barahona P; Ajuyah P; Sherstyuk A; Avila A; Cadiz R; Perkins C; Gifford A; Mao J; Zhao A; O’Regan L; Gorgels D; Lau LMS; Ziegler D; Haber M; Tyrrell V; Lock R; Cowley M; Nicholls W; Daly R; Ekert P; Fleuren EDG, 2023, Comprehensive multi-platform tyrosine kinase profiling reveals novel actionable FGFR aberrations across pediatric and AYA sarcomas, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2023.07.19.548825
    Preprints | 2023
    Gu A; Schmidt B; Lonsdale A; Brown L; Sadras T; Ekert P; Oshlack A, 2023, TALLSorts: a T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia subtype classifier using RNA-seq expression data, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2023.04.05.535648
    Conference Papers | 2022
    Fordham A; Brown L; Mayoh C; Wong M; Barger Z; O'Regan L; Lim Kan Siam T; Xie J; Gunther K; Barahona P; Ajuyah P; Lau L; Ziegler D; Haber M; Tyrrell V; Lock R; Cowley M; Nicholls W; Daly R; Ekert P; Fleuren E, 2022, 'MULTI-PLATFORM TYROSINE KINASE PROFILING REVEALS NOVEL ACTIONABLE FGFR ABERRATIONS ACROSS PEDIATRIC AND ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT SARCOMAS', Vancouver, Canada, presented at Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) Annual Meeting 2022, Vancouver, Canada, 17 November 2022
    Preprints | 2022
    Hu W; Hu W; Kumar A; Qi S; Sadras T; Casan J; Ma D; Brown L; Haber M; Voskoboinik I; Trapani J; Ekert P; Fareh M, 2022, Single-base precision design of CRISPR-Cas13b enables systematic silencing of oncogenic fusions, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1714034/v1
    Preprints | 2022
    Hu W; Kumar A; Qi S; Sadras T; Casan JML; Ma D; Brown L; Haber M; Voskoboinik I; Trapani J; Ekert P; Fareh M, 2022, Single-base precision design of CRISPR-Cas13b enables systematic silencing of oncogenic fusions, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.22.497105
    Preprints | 2022
    Lonsdale A; Halman A; Brown L; Kosasih H; Ekert P; Oshlack A, 2022, Toblerone: detecting exon deletion events in cancer using RNA-seq, , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.10.27.514132
    Conference Papers | 2018
    Brown LM; Huckstep H; Sandow J; Bartolo RC; Davidson N; Schmidt B; Bjelosevic S; Johnstone RW; Oshlack A; Davis M; Ekert PG, 2018, 'Different Classes of ABL1 Fusions Activate Different Downstream Signalling Nodes', in BLOOD, AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY, CA, San Diego, presented at 60th Annual Meeting of the American-Society-of-Hematology (ASH), CA, San Diego, 01 December 2018 - 04 December 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood-2018-99-117844

2018: Henry and Rachel Ackman Travel Scholarship, The University of Melbourne, Australia

2016: Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, Australian Government

2015: Dean's Honours List, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, Australia

My current research activities include:

  1. Functional validation of novel molecular drivers identified in the ZERO childhood cancer cohort
  2. Differential signal pathway activation by ABL1 fusions in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
  3. Establishing the role of fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR1-4) gene aberrations and FGFR activation in paediatric cancer

 

List of my publications:

Moujalled DM, Hanna DT, Hediyeh-zadeh S, Pomilio G, Brown LM, Litalien V, Bartolo R, Fleming, Chanrion M, Banquet S, Maragno A-L, Kraus-Berthier L, Schoumacher L, Mullighan C, Georgiou A, White CA, Lessene G, Huang DCS, Roberts AW, Geneste O, Rasmussen L, Davis MJ, Ekert PG, Andrew Wei A, Ng AP Khaw SL. Co-targeting BCL-2 and MCL-1 in high-risk B-ALL. Blood Advances. 2020.

Brown LM, Lonsdale A, Zhu A, Davidson NM, Schmidt B, Hawkins A, Wallach E, Martin M, Mechinaud, F, Khaw SL, Bartolo RC, Ludlow LEA, Challis J, Brooks I, Petrovic V, Venn NC, Sutton R, Majewski IJ, Oshlack A, Ekert PG. The application of RNA sequencing for the diagnosis and genomic classification of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood Advances. 2020.

Brown LM, Bartolo RC, Davidson N, Schmidt B, Brooks I, Challis J, Petrovic V, Khuong-Quang D-A, Mechinaud F, Khaw SL, Majewski IJ, Oshlack A, Ekert PG. Therapeutic targeting and disease monitoring in CNTRL-FGFR1 driven leukaemia. Pediatric Blood & Cancer. 2019.

Brown LM, Hanna DT, Khaw SL, Ekert PG. Dysregulation of BCL-2 Family Proteins by Leukemia Fusion Genes. J Biol Chem. 2017.

Narayan N, Morenos L, Phipson B, Willis SN, Brumatti G, Eggers S, Lalaoui N, Brown LM, Kosasih HJ, Bartolo RC, Zhou, L, Catchpoole D, Saffery R, Oshlack A, Goodall GJ, Ekert, PG. Functionally distinct roles for different miR-155 expression levels through contrasting effects on gene expression, in acute myeloid leukemia. Leukemia. 2016.