Dr Samantha Oakes

Dr Samantha Oakes

Adjunct Associate Professor
  • B.Sc. (Hons1)1994-1999 University of New South Wales, Australia (Anatomy)
  • PhD (Medical Research)2003-2007 University of New South Wales (Garvan Institute of Medical Research), Australia.
Medicine & Health
School of Clinical Medicine
About me: 
Samantha Oakes, Adjunct Associate Professor, St. Vincent's Clinical School, UNSW Medicine was awarded her PhD in 2007, funded by NHMRC and NBCF fellowships and received the ‘Garvan Institute Best Thesis Prize’ for her work understanding the role of the pituitary hormone prolactin in triple negative breast cancer. In 2008, Samantha was awarded an NBCF Early Career Fellowship to further her studies at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Her work focussed on understanding how specialised signals in breast cancer cells prevent them from dying. She later showed that by turning these signals off, triple negative breast cancers could be sensitised to routine chemotherapy. In 2012, Samantha returned to the Garvan Institute and together with her team, discovered a new dual therapeutic and anti-metastatic strategy for triple negative breast cancer. Recently, Samantha established and led the Long Term Follow Up Unit of the Molecular Screening and Therapeutics Program, the largest cancer genomic medicine program in Australia, based at the Garvan Institute. Samantha is a passionate advocate of breast cancer research in Australia.
  • Journal articles | 2023
    Serrano A; Weber T; Berthelet J; El-Saafin F; Gadipally S; Charafe-Jauffret E; Ginestier C; Mariadason JM; Oakes SR; Britt K; Naik SH; Merino D, 2023, 'Experimental and spontaneous metastasis assays can result in divergence in clonal architecture', Communications Biology, 6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05167-5
    Journal articles | 2022
    Ho WHJ; Law AMK; Masle-Farquhar E; Castillo LE; Mawson A; O’Bryan MK; Goodnow CC; Gallego-Ortega D; Oakes SR; Ormandy CJ, 2022, 'Activation of the viral sensor oligoadenylate synthetase 2 (Oas2) prevents pregnancy-driven mammary cancer metastases', Breast Cancer Research, 24, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13058-022-01525-z
    Journal articles | 2022
    Zammit NW; McDowell J; Warren J; Muskovic W; Gamble J; Shi YC; Kaczorowski D; Chan CL; Powell J; Ormandy C; Brown D; Oakes SR; Grey ST, 2022, 'TNFAIP3 Reduction-of-Function Drives Female Infertility and CNS Inflammation', Frontiers in Immunology, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.811525
    Journal articles | 2021
    Liang Y; Jeganathan S; Marastoni S; Sharp A; Figueiredo I; Marcellus R; Mawson A; Shalev Z; Pesic A; Sweet J; Guo H; Uehling D; Gurel B; Neeb A; He HH; Montgomery B; Koritzinsky M; Oakes S; De Bono JS; Gleave M; Zoubeidi A; Wouters BG; Joshua AM, 2021, 'Emergence of enzalutamide resistance in prostate cancer is associated with BCL-2 and IKKB dependencies', Clinical Cancer Research, 27, pp. 2340 - 2351, http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-3260
    Journal articles | 2021
    Lin FP; Thavaneswaran S; Grady JP; Ballinger M; Kansara M; Oakes SR; Desai J; Lee CK; Simes J; Thomas DM, 2021, 'Criteria-based curation of a therapy-focused compendium to support treatment recommendations in precision oncology', npj Precision Oncology, 5, pp. 58, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41698-021-00194-z
    Journal articles | 2021
    Valdés-Mora F; Salomon R; Gloss BS; Law AMK; Venhuizen J; Castillo L; Murphy KJ; Magenau A; Papanicolaou M; Rodriguez de la Fuente L; Roden DL; Colino-Sanguino Y; Kikhtyak Z; Farbehi N; Conway JRW; Sikta N; Oakes SR; Cox TR; O'Donoghue SI; Timpson P; Ormandy CJ; Gallego-Ortega D, 2021, 'Single-cell transcriptomics reveals involution mimicry during the specification of the basal breast cancer subtype', Cell Reports, 35, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108945
    Journal articles | 2020
    Castillo L; Young AIJ; Mawson A; Schafranek P; Steinmann AM; Nessem D; Parkin A; Johns A; Chou A; Law AMK; Lucas MC; Murphy KJ; Deng N; Gallego-Ortega D; Caldon CE; Timpson P; Pajic M; Ormandy CJ; Oakes SR, 2020, 'MCL-1 antagonism enhances the anti-invasive effects of dasatinib in pancreatic adenocarcinoma', Oncogene, 39, pp. 1821 - 1829, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41388-019-1091-0
    Journal articles | 2020
    Lin F; Thavaneswaran S; Grady J; Ballinger M; Kansara M; Oakes S; Desai J; Lee CK; Simes J; Thomas D, 2020, 'Criteria-based curation of a therapy-focused compendium to support treatment recommendations in precision oncology', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.18.20248521
    Journal articles | 2020
    Piggin CL; Roden DL; Law AMK; Molloy MP; Krisp C; Swarbrick A; Naylor MJ; Kalyuga M; Kaplan W; Oakes SR; Gallego-Ortega D; Clark SJ; Carroll JS; Bartonicek N; Ormandy CJ, 2020, 'ELF5 modulates the estrogen receptor cistrome in breast cancer', PLoS Genetics, 16, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008531
    Journal articles | 2019
    Alexandrou S; George SM; Ormandy CJ; Lim E; Oakes SR; Elizabeth Caldon C, 2019, 'The proliferative and apoptotic landscape of basal-like breast cancer', International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms20030667
    Journal articles | 2019
    Castillo L; George S; Lin H-M; Yeung N; Mawson A; Young AI; Law AM; Hastings J; Gallego-Ortega D; Deng N; Croucher D; Swarbrick A; Horvath L; Ormandy CJ; Oakes SR, 2019, 'Flicking the switch off, targeting MCL-1 in the treatment of breast and prostate cancer', Oncology Abstracts, http://dx.doi.org/10.1530/oncolabs.1.p038
    Journal articles | 2019
    Valdes-Mora F; Salomon R; Gloss B; Law AMK; Castillo L; Murphy K; Venhuizen J; Magenau A; Papanicolau M; de la Fuente LR; Roden D; Colino-Sanguino Y; Kikhtyak Z; Farbehi N; Conway JRW; Oakes S; Sikta N; O’Donoghue S; Cox T; Timpson P; Ormandy C; Gallego-Ortega D, 2019, 'Single cell transcriptomics reveals involution mimicry during the specification of the basal breast cancer subtype', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/624890
    Journal articles | 2018
    Marini KD; Croucher DR; McCloy RA; Vaghjiani V; Gonzalez-Rajal A; Hastings JF; Chin V; Szczepny A; Kostyrko K; Marquez C; Samantha W; Jayasekara N; Alamgeer M; Boolell V; Han JZR; Waugh T; Lee HC; Oakes SR; Kumar B; Harrison CA; Hedger MP; Lorensuhewa N; Kita B; Barrow R; Robinson BW; De Kretser DM; Wu J; Ganju V; Alejandro Sweet-Cordero E; Burgess A; Martelotto LG; Rossello FJ; Cain JE; Neil Watkins D, 2018, 'Inhibition of activin signaling in lung adenocarcinoma increases the therapeutic index of platinum chemotherapy', Science Translational Medicine, 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aat3504
    Journal articles | 2018
    Valdes-Mora F; Handler K; Law AMK; Salomon R; Oakes SR; Ormandy CJ; Gallego-Ortega D, 2018, 'Single-cell transcriptomics in cancer immunobiology: The future of precision oncology', Frontiers in Immunology, 9, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.02582
    Journal articles | 2018
    Young AIJ; Timpson P; Gallego-Ortega D; Ormandy CJ; Oakes SR, 2018, 'Myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL-1), an unexpected modulator of protein kinase signaling during invasion', Cell Adhesion and Migration, 12, pp. 513 - 523, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19336918.2017.1393591
    Journal articles | 2017
    Law AMK; Yin JXM; Castillo L; Young AIJ; Piggin C; Rogers S; Caldon CE; Burgess A; Millar EKA; O'Toole SA; Gallego-Ortega D; Ormandy CJ; Oakes SR, 2017, 'Andy's Algorithms: New automated digital image analysis pipelines for FIJI', Scientific Reports, 7, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-15885-6
    Journal articles | 2017
    Oakes SR; Gallego-Ortega D; Stanford PM; Junankar S; Au WWY; Kikhtyak Z; von Korff A; Sergio CM; Law AMK; Castillo LE; Allerdice SL; Young AIJ; Piggin C; Whittle B; Bertram E; Naylor MJ; Roden DL; Donovan J; Korennykh A; Goodnow CC; O’Bryan MK; Ormandy CJ, 2017, 'A mutation in the viral sensor 2’-5’-oligoadenylate synthetase 2 causes failure of lactation', PLoS Genetics, 13, pp. e1007072, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007072
    Journal articles | 2017
    Peng V; Suchowerska N; Rogers L; Claridge Mackonis E; Oakes S; McKenzie DR, 2017, 'Grid therapy using high definition multileaf collimators: realizing benefits of the bystander effect', Acta Oncologica, 56, pp. 1048 - 1059, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0284186X.2017.1299939
    Journal articles | 2016
    Piggin CL; Roden DL; Gallego-Ortega D; Lee HJ; Oakes SR; Ormandy CJ, 2016, 'ELF5 isoform expression is tissue-specific and significantly altered in cancer', Breast Cancer Research, 18, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13058-015-0666-0
    Journal articles | 2016
    Young AIJ; Law AMK; Castillo L; Chong S; Cullen HD; Koehler M; Herzog S; Brummer T; Lee EF; Fairlie WD; Lucas MC; Herrmann D; Allam A; Timpson P; Watkins DN; Millar EKA; O'Toole SA; Gallego-Ortega D; Ormandy CJ; Oakes SR, 2016, 'MCL-1 inhibition provides a new way to suppress breast cancer metastasis and increase sensitivity to dasatinib', Breast Cancer Research, 18, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13058-016-0781-6
    Journal articles | 2015
    Gallego-Ortega D; Ledger A; Roden DL; Law AMK; Magenau A; Kikhtyak Z; Cho C; Allerdice SL; Lee HJ; Valdes-Mora F; Herrmann D; Salomon R; Young AIJ; Lee BY; Sergio CM; Kaplan W; Piggin C; Conway JRW; Rabinovich B; Millar EKA; Oakes SR; Chtanova T; Swarbrick A; Naylor MJ; O’Toole S; Green AR; Timpson P; Gee JMW; Ellis IO; Clark SJ; Ormandy CJ, 2015, 'ELF5 Drives Lung Metastasis in Luminal Breast Cancer through Recruitment of Gr1+ CD11b+ Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells', PLoS Biology, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002330
    Journal articles | 2014
    Hilton HN; Doan TB; Dinny Graham J; Oakes SR; Silvestri A; Santucci N; Kantimm S; Huschtscha LI; Ormandy CJ; Funder JW; Simpson ER; Kuczek ES; Leedman PJ; Tilley WD; Fuller PJ; Muscat GEO; Clarke CL, 2014, 'Acquired convergence of hormone signaling in breast cancer: ER and PR transition from functionally distinct in normal breast to predictors of metastatic disease', Oncotarget, 5, pp. 8651 - 8664, http://dx.doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.2354
    Journal articles | 2014
    Oakes SR; Gallego-Ortega D; Ormandy CJ, 2014, 'The mammary cellular hierarchy and breast cancer', Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 71, pp. 4301 - 4324, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00018-014-1674-4
    Journal articles | 2013
    Gallego-Ortega D; Oakes SR; Lee HJ; Piggin CL; Ormandy CJ, 2013, 'ELF5, normal mammary development and the heterogeneous phenotypes of breast cancer', BREAST CANCER MANAGEMENT, 2, pp. 489 - 498, http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/BMT.13.50
    Journal articles | 2013
    O'Toole S; Beith JM; Millar EKA; West R; McLean A; Cazet A; Swarbrick A; Oakes , 2013, 'Therapeutic targets in triple negative breast cancer', Journal of Clinical Pathology, 66, pp. 530 - 542, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jclinpath-2012-201361
    Journal articles | 2012
    Kalyuga M; Gallego-Ortega D; Lee H; Roden DL; Cowley MJ; Caldon CE; Stone A; Allerdice SL; Valdes-Mora F; Rosalind launchbury R; Statham A; Armstrong NJ; Alles MC; Adelaide young A; Egger A; Au W; Piggin CL; Evans C; Ledger A; Brummer T; Oakes SR; Kaplan W; Gee JMW; Robert i nicholson RI; Sutherland RL; Swarbrick A; Naylor MJ; Clark SJ; Carroll JS; Ormandy CJ, 2012, 'ELF5 Suppresses Estrogen Sensitivity and Underpins the Acquisition of Antiestrogen Resistance in Luminal Breast Cancer', PLoS Biology, 10, pp. e1001461, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001461
    Journal articles | 2012
    Oakes SR; Vaillant F; Lim E; Lee L; Breslin K; Feleppa F; Deb S; Ritchie ME; Takano E; Ward T; Fox SB; Generali D; Smyth GK; Strasser A; Huang DCS; Visvader JE; Lindeman GJ, 2012, 'Sensitization of BCL-2-expressing breast tumors to chemotherapy by the BH3 mimetic ABT-737', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, pp. 2766 - 2771, http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1104778108
    Journal articles | 2012
    Oakes SR; Vaillant F; Lim E; Lee L; Breslin K; Feleppa F; Deb S; Ritchie ME; Takano E; Ward T; Fox SB; Generali D; Smyth GK; Strasser A; Huang DCS; Visvader JE; Lindeman GJ, 2012, 'Targeting BCL-2–expressing basal-like breast cancer with BH3-mimetics', Hereditary cancer in clinical practice, 10, pp. A25 - A25, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1897-4287-10-s2-a25
    Journal articles | 2010
    Zardawi SJ; Zardawi I; Mcneil CM; Millar E; Mcleod D; Morey AL; Crea P; Murphy NC; Pinese M; Lopez-Knowles E; Oakes SR; Ormandy CJ; Qiu MR; Hamilton A; Spillane AJ; Lee CS; Sutherland RL; Musgrove EA; O'Toole S, 2010, 'High Notch1 protein expression is an early event in breast cancer development and is associated with the HER-2 molecular subtype', Histopathology, 56, pp. 286 - 296, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2559.2009.03475.x
    Journal articles | 2008
    Bouras T; Pal B; Vaillant F; Harburg G; Asselin-Labat ML; Oakes SR; Lindeman GJ; Visvader JE, 2008, 'Notch Signaling Regulates Mammary Stem Cell Function and Luminal Cell-Fate Commitment', Cell Stem Cell, 3, pp. 429 - 441, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2008.08.001
    Journal articles | 2008
    Hilton HN; Stanford PM; Harris J; Oakes SR; Kaplan W; Daly RJ; Ormandy CJ, 2008, 'KIBRA interacts with discoidin domain receptor 1 to modulate collagen-induced signalling', Biochimica et Biophysica ACTA - Molecular Cell Research, 1783, pp. 383 - 393, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2007.12.007
    Journal articles | 2008
    Oakes SR; Naylor MJ; Asselin-Labat M; Blazek K; Gardiner-Garden M; Hilton HN; Kazlauskas M; Pritchard M; Chodosh L; Pfeffer P; Lindeman GJ; Visvader J; Ormandy CJ, 2008, 'The Ets transcription factor Elf5 specifies mammary alveolar cell fate', Genes and Development, 22, pp. 581 - 586, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gad.1614608
    Journal articles | 2008
    Oakes SR; Rogers R; Naylor MJ; Ormandy CJ, 2008, 'Prolactin regulation of mammary gland development', Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia, 13, pp. 13 - 28, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10911-008-9069-5
    Journal articles | 2007
    Oakes SR; Robertson FG; Kench JG; Gardiner-Garden M; Wand MP; Green JE; Ormandy CJ, 2007, 'Loss of mammary epithelial prolactin receptor delays tumor formation by reducing cell proliferation in low-grade preinvasive lesions', Oncogene, 26, pp. 543 - 553
    Journal articles | 2006
    Harris J; Stanford PM; Sutherland K; Oakes SR; Naylor MJ; Robertson F; Blazek K; Kazlauskas M; Hilton HN; Wittlin S; Alexander WS; Lindeman GJ; Visvader J; Ormandy CJ, 2006, 'Socs2 and Elf5 mediate prolactin-induced mammary gland development', Molecular Endocrinology, 20, pp. 1177 - 1187
    Journal articles | 2006
    Oakes SR; Hilton HN; Ormandy CJ, 2006, 'Key stages in mammary gland development - The alveolar switch: coordinating the proliferative cues and cell fate decisions that drive the formation of lobuloalveoli from ductal epithelium', Breast Cancer Research, 8
    Journal articles | 2005
    Naylor MJ; Oakes SR; Gardiner-Garden M; Harris J; Blazek K; Ho TW; Li F; Wynick D; Walker AM; Ormandy CJ, 2005, 'Transcriptional changes underlying the secretory activation phase of mammary gland development', Molecular Endocrinology, 19, pp. 1868 - 1883
    Journal articles | 2004
    Harris J; Stanford PM; Oakes SR; Ormandy CJ, 2004, 'Prolactin and the prolactin receptor: new targets of an old hormone', Annals of Medicine, 36, pp. 414 - 425, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WVB-4DPTTDJ-115/2/64c9f2829ad0aa962efbb9ba7f7f6f0c
    Journal articles | 2003
    Davison EA; Lee CM; Naylor MJ; Oakes SR; Sutherland RL; Henninghausen L; Ormandy CJ; Musgrove EA, 2003, 'The Cyclin-Dependent Kinase inhibitor p27 (Kip1) regulates both DNA synthesis and apoptosis in mammary epithelium but is not required for its functional development during pregnancy.', Molecular Endocrinology, 17, pp. 2436 - 2447
    Journal articles | 2003
    Robertson F; Harris J; Naylor MJ; Oakes S; Kindblom J; Dillner K; Wennbo H; Tornell J; Kelly PA; Green J; Ormandy CJ, 2003, 'Prostate development and carcinogenesis in prolactin receptor knockout mice', Endocrinology, 144, pp. 3196 - 3205
    Journal articles | 2002
    Gorrie CA; Oakes SR; Duflou J; Blumbergs P; Waite PM, 2002, 'Axonal Injury in Children after Motor Vehicle Crashes: Extent, Distribution and Size of Axonal Swellings Using B-App Immunohistochemistry', Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 19, pp. 1171 - 1182
    Journal articles | 2002
    Sainsbury A; Schwarzer C; Couzens M; Jenkins A; Oakes SR; Ormandy CJ; Herzog H, 2002, 'Y4 receptor knockout rescues fertility in ob/ob mice', Genes and Development, 16, pp. 1077 - 1088, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gad.979102
  • Conference Abstracts | 2022
    Lin FP-Y; Thavaneswaran S; Grady JP; Napier CE; Kansara M; Sebastian L; Kee D; Oakes SR; Blackburn J; Scott HS; Glover A; Fox SB; Goldstein D; Leo P; Amanuel B; Desai J; Lee CK; Ballinger ML; Simes J; Thomas DM, 2022, 'Molecular therapy selection in treatment-refractory advanced cancers: A retrospective cohort study determining the utility of TOPOGRAPH knowledge base.', in JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY, LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, ELECTR NETWORK, Vol. 40, presented at Annual Meeting of the American-Society-of-Clinical-Oncology (ASCO), ELECTR NETWORK, 03 June 2022 - 07 June 2022, https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000863680300966&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=891bb5ab6ba270e68a29b250adbe88d1
    Conference Abstracts | 2022
    Lin FP-Y; Thavaneswaran S; Grady JP; Napier CE; Kansara M; Sebastian L; Kee D; Oakes SR; Blackburn J; Scott HS; Glover A; Fox SB; Goldstein D; Leo P; Amanuel B; Desai J; Lee CK; Ballinger ML; Simes J; Thomas DM, 2022, 'Molecular therapy selection in treatment-refractory advanced cancers: A retrospective cohort study determining the utility of TOPOGRAPH knowledge base.', in Journal of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Vol. 40, pp. 3073 - 3073, http://dx.doi.org/10.1200/jco.2022.40.16_suppl.3073
    Preprints | 2021
    Ho W-HJ; Law A; Masle-Farquhar E; Castillo L; Mawson A; O’Bryan M; Goodnow C; Ortega DG; Oakes S; Ormandy C, 2021, Activation of the viral sensor oligoadenylate synthetase 2 (Oas2) prevents pregnancy-driven mammary cancer metastases, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-842107/v1
    Preprints | 2021
    Thavaneswaran S; Sebastian L; Kansara M; Ballinger M; Espinoza D; Lin F; Lee C; Sjoquist K; Grady J; Cowley M; Joshua A; Qiu M; Oakes S; Simes J; Thomas D, 2021, A Signal-seeking Phase Iia Trial of Palbociclib in Advanced Cancers With Cell Cycle Pathway Alterations – A Substudy of the Molecular Screening and Therapeutics (Most) Program, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-254137/v1
    Conference Papers | 2014
    Ortega DG; Ledger A; Roden D; Cho C; Allerdice S; Lee H; Valdes-Mora F; Salomon R; Oakes S; Ormandy C, 2014, 'THE ETS TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR ELF5 IS A KEY DETERMINANT OF THE LETHAL PHENOTYPE IN LUMINAL BREAST CANCER, DRIVING THE ACQUISITION OF ANTIESTROGEN RESISTANCE AND METASTATIC ACTIVITY', in ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY, WILEY-BLACKWELL, pp. 16 - 17, https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000344745100030&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=891bb5ab6ba270e68a29b250adbe88d1
    Conference Papers | 2011
    Lindeman GJ; Oakes SR; Vaillant F; Lim E; Lee L; Breslin K; Feleppa F; Deb S; Ritchie ME; Takano E; Ward T; Fox SB; Generali D; Smyth GK; Strasser A; Huang DCS; Visvader JE, 2011, 'PD08-02: Targeting BCL-2 Expressing Breast Tumors with BH3-Mimetics – A New Class of Drugs in Breast Cancer?', in Cancer Research, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.sabcs11-pd08-02
    Conference Papers | 2011
    Lindeman GJ; Oakes SR; Vaillant F; Lim E; Lee L; Breslin K; Feleppa F; Deb S; Ritchie ME; Takano E; Ward T; Fox SB; Generali D; Smyth GK; Strasser A; Huang DCS; Visvader JE, 2011, 'Targeting BCL-2 Expressing Breast Tumors with BH3-Mimetics - A New Class of Drugs in Breast Cancer?', in CANCER RESEARCH, AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH, http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.SABCS11-PDOS-02
    Conference Papers | 2009
    O Toole SJ; Swarbrick A; Millar E; McLeod D; Mcneil CM; Qiu MR; Lopez-Knowles E; Caldon E; Oakes SR; Ormandy CJ; Morey AL; Musgrove EA; Henshall SM; Sutherland RL, 2009, 'Aberrent hedgehog signaling is an early event in breast cancer development', in Cancer research, American Association Cancer Research, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 70S - 70S
    Conference Papers | 2009
    O'Toole S; Swarbrick A; Millar E; McLeod D; McNeil C; Qiu M; Lopez-Knowles E; Caldon E; Oakes S; Ormandy C; Morey A; Musgrove E; Henshall S; Sutherland R, 2009, 'Aberrent hedgehog signaling is an early event in breast cancer development.', in Cancer Research, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), pp. 24 - 24, http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.sabcs-24
    Conference Papers | 2007
    Williams E; Chaffer C; Oakes SR; Ormandy CJ; Blick T; Thompson E, 2007, 'Mesenchymal to epithetial transition in the establishment of secondary tumours: insights from a bladder carcinoma progression series', in Clinical and Experimental Metastasis, Kluwer Academic Publ, pp. 262 - 262
    Conference Papers | 2006
    Williams ED; Chaffer CL; Oakes SR; Ormandy CJ; Blick T; Thompson EW, 2006, 'Mesenchymal to epithelial transition in the establishment of secondary tumors: Insights from a bladder carcinoma progression series', in CANCER RESEARCH, AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH, https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000454606204397&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=891bb5ab6ba270e68a29b250adbe88d1
    Conference Papers | 2000
    Oakes SR; Waite PM, 2000, 'A new in vitro model of stretch injury in the central nervous system', in Proceedings of Aust Neuroscience Society, Melbourne Convention Centre, pp. 165 - 165, presented at 20th annual meeting Australian Neuroscience Society, Melbourne Convention Centre, 30 January 2000 - 02 February 2000
    Conference Papers | 1999
    Oakes SR; Gorrie CA; Waite PM, 1999, 'Axonal swelling in the corpus callosum and internal capsule in traumatic brain injury in children and adults', in 5th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience, Jerusalem, Israel, pp. 128, presented at 5th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience, Jerusalem, Israel, 11 July 1999 - 15 July 1999
    Preprints |
    Valdes-Mora F; Salomon R; Gloss B; Law AMK; Castillo L; Murphy K; Venhuizen J; Magenau A; Papanicolau M; Rodriguez de la Fuente L; Roden DL; Colino-Sanguino Y; Kikhtyak Z; Farbehi N; Conway JRW; Oakes SR; Sikta N; O'Donoghue SI; Cox TR; Timpson P; Ormandy CJ; Gallego Ortega D, Single Cell Transcriptomics Reveals Involution Mimicry During the Specification of the Basal Breast Cancer Subtype, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3634808

  1. 2017-2018Cancer Council NSW Project Grant Total Funding: $446,751.81
  2. 2017Mostyn Family Foundation Total Funding: $25,000
  3. 2016Young Garvan Edgy Ideas Award Total Funding: $25,000
  4. 2016Mostyn Family Foundation Total Funding: $25,000
  5. 2014-2018NHMRC Project GrantTotal Funding: $1,222,590.00
  6. 2013-2016NBCF Early Career FellowshipTotal Funding: $619,945.00
  7. 2013NHMRC Project Grant Total Funding: $423,806.18
  8. 2008-2012NHMRC Peter Doherty Australian-based Biomedical Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Total Funding: $355,766
  9. 2008-2012NBCF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Total Funding $80,000
  10. 2008Victorian Cancer Agency Career Bench to Bedside Collaboration Award. Total Funding: $10,000
  11. 2003-2006NHMRC Dora LushPre-doctoral Research Scholarship. Total Funding: $71,625

  • 2016Young Garvan Awardfor the best Edgy Idea
  • 2015 National Breast Cancer Foundation Spirit of Giving Awards ‘Excellence in Science Communication Award’ Awarded by Jackie Coles, Acting CEO, National Breast Cancer Foundation.
  • 2007Garvan Institute Thesis Prize, Sydney, Australia.
  • 2012The University of Sydney Medal for Excellence in Medical Research for the Best Overall Presentation NSW Scientific Meeting, Sydney, Australia.
  • 2012 National Breast Cancer Foundation Patron’s Award for ‘Excellence in Science and Science Communication Award’ Awarded by the Governor General of Australia Ms. Quentin Bryce and Sarah Murdoch (Patron of the National Breast Cancer Foundation)
  • 2008Outstanding Oral Presentation2008 Prolactin and Growth Hormone Gordon Research Conference, Ventura, California, USA.
  • 2007The Eli Lilly Award for the Best Student Oral Presentation, NSW ASMR Scientific Meeting, Sydney, Australia.
  • 2006 The Cancer Institute Award for Excellence in Student OralPresentation. 16th St Vincent’s and Mater Health Sydney Research Symposium, Sydney, Australia.

My research focus was to understand how cancer cells learn how to survive in the body. Inappropriate survival can be intrinsically linked to every stage of tumour progression, from the initiating event and growth, its invasion through surrounding tissues, dissemination to distant organs and to the acquisition of therapeutic resistance. An understanding of these processes allows us to discover new therapeutic strategies capable of re-educating cancer cells to die. Although my model systems have been predominantly in breast cancer, I have translated these discoveries to cancers arising in other organs; particularly those with poorer survival outcomes, such as pancreatic cancer. It has been my ultimate goal to translate my discoveries into new treatments and improved clinical outcomes for patients suffering the most lethal forms of breast and other malignancies.

 

I am an expert in mammary development (Oakes et al 2008, Genes and Dev; Oakes et al 2008 J of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia; Oakes et al 2017 PloS Genetics), carcinogenesis (Oakes et al 2007 Oncogene; O’Toole et al 2013, J. Clinical Pathology) and cancer cell survival (Oakes et al 2012, PNAS; Young et al 2016, Breast Cancer Research; Young et al 2018 Cell Adhesion and Migration, Alexandrou et al 2019).

 

I have made two major discoveries that have made significant impacts on health and medicine. The first, as post-doctoral scientist at WEHI, where I showed that the BCL-2 antagonist ABT-737 could be used to sensitize triple negative breast cancer cells to routine chemotherapy (Oakes 2012, PNAS). ABT-737 is the lead compound that eventually led to the development of the Australian TGA approved drug Venetoclax and as a result of this research, Venetoclax is now under investigation in clinical trials in multiple cancers including breast cancer. In trials in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer led by my previous lab head, the clinical benefit rate was 72%.

 

My second major discovery as senior author defined a new role for the pro-survival protein myeloid cell leukaemia 1 (MCL-1), as a regulator of SRC family kinase signalling during invasion. My laboratory showed that that targeting MCL-1 could increase sensitivity of triple negative breast cancers to SRC family kinase inhibitors (Young 2017 BCR; Young 2017 Cell Adhesion and Migration, PCT/AU2017/05132). This discovery led us to search for other cancers that may rely on MCL-1 for survival. We have now discovered high MCL-1 is a strong predictor of worse outcome for up to 75% of all pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients and that MCL-1 antagonism significantly improved the anti-invasive effects of dasatinib. With an incidence to mortality ratio of 94%, and highly potent and specific inhibitors of MCL-1 now in P1 clinical trials, this research has the potential to have a significant and rapid impact in pancreatic cancer.

Invited Talks 

 

  1. 2019 Invited Speaker Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
  2. 2019 Invited Speaker Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC), Peter Mac, Melbourne, Australia
  3. 2019 Invited Flash Talk, 2019 Breast and Prostate Pacrim Meeting, Barossa Valley, SA, Australia
  4. 2018 Invited Speaker Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
  5. 2018 Invited Speaker Health Informatics Conference, Wellington, New Zealand, November
  6. 2018 Invited Speaker Combio, Sydney, Australia, September
  7. 2017 Invited Talk, Queenstown Research Week Cell Signaling Symposium, Queenstown, New Zealand
  8. 2017 Invited Plenary St. Vincent’s Precinct Post-doctoral Symposium, Sydney
  9. 2017 Invited Talk, ASMR NSW Scientific Meeting
  10. 2016 Hanson Institute, University of Adelaide. Australia
  11. 2015 Invited Talk, Queenstown Molecular Biology Meeting, New Zealand
  12. 2014 Invited Talk, Australian Society of Medical Research NSW Scientific Meeting, Australia
  13. 2012 Invited Talk, Australian Society of Medical Research NSW Scientific Meeting, Australia
  14. 2012 Invited Talk, National Breast Cancer Foundation Fellows Symposium, Sydney International Breast Cancer Conference
  15. 2010 Invited Talk, Victorian Breast Cancer Research Symposium, Victoria, Australia
  16. 2008 Invited Talk, Gordon Mammary Gland Conference, Prolactin and Growth Hormone, Ventura, USA
  17. 2007 Invited Talk, Queenstown Molecular Biology Meeting, New Zealand

 

Community Engagement/Participation (last 5 years only

  1. 2019 Invited Speaker Australian Maronite Community Network, Parramatta, NSW.
  2. 2018 Invited Speaker Pathfinders Awards: The Science of Innovation, Tesla HQ Sydney Sept.
  3. 2017 Vodafone DreamLab Scientific Ambassador (several tours and events and launch in October)
  4. 2017 Featured Researcher, Cue Clothing Company, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October
  5. 2017 Master of Ceremonies, 2nd Annual Young Garvan Edgy Ideas Awards Evening
  6. 2017 Guest Speaker, Riley Street Garage, Breast Cancer Luncheon
  7. 2017 Guest Speaker, ASMR Dinner with a Scientist, Medical Research Week Sydney
  8. 2016 Invited Speaker Pint of Science 23 May Sydney Australia
  9. 2015 Ambassador and media spokesperson for Vodafone Foundation and Garvan Institute of Medical Research ‘DreamLab’ launch. Typing ‘DreamLab’ and ‘Samantha Oakes’ into Google returns 1980 results in National and International Media that have appeared since its launch in November 2015.
  10. 2015 Guest Speaker at the National Breast Cancer Foundation Pink Ribbon Breakfast Launch.
  11. 2014 Featured researcher in the 2013 Garvan Institute “A Year in Review” documentary screened at the Garvan Institute AGM and at several donor functions.
  12. 2014 (March) Featured National Breast Cancer Foundation funded breast cancer researcher in ‘Shades of Pink” a documentary commissioned by the National Breast Cancer Foundation to illustrate the diversity of breast cancer and screened on Network 10.

http://www.nbcf.org.au/Stories/Support-Us/Shades-of-Pink.aspx

  1. 2013 (May) Featured National Breast Cancer Foundation funded Breast cancer researcher in the May edition of the Australian Women’s Weekly
  2. 2012 19th December Invited speaker and research representative for the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Darlinghurst, Australia. Walking tour to Her Excellency the Governor General of Australia Ms Quentin Bryce and Mr Michael Bryce. Talk entitled: Overcoming the challenges in finding treatments for triple negative breast cancer.
  3. 2012 3rd July Invited speaker and research representative for the National Breast Cancer Foundation at the Cherrybrook Pink Ribbon Breakfast. Talk entitled: Overcoming the challenges in finding treatments for triple negative breast cancer.
  4. 2012 12th February Invited speaker and research representative for the National Breast Cancer Foundation for the National Breast Cancer Foundation board member tour. Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Darlinghurst, Australia.