Dr Nikola Bowden

Biography

Dr Nikola Bowden was appointed at the University of Newcastle in January 2006 as the inaugural NBN Telethon childhood cancer post-doctoral fellow. Subsequent to this in 2008 she was awarded a Gladys M. Brawn memorial post-doctoral fellowship from the Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle. In January 2009 Dr Bowden was appointed as a Lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences & Pharmacy and was awarded an NH&MRC training (post-doctoral) fellowship which she commenced in October 2009.

Since 2006 Dr Bowden has developed a research interest with the overall aim of delivering personalised diagnosis and treatment to patients with cancer, with a more focused interest in investigating DNA repair in melanoma. Dr Bowden's research is currently funded through a nationally competitive fellowship and grant from the NH&MRC and Cancer Australia, respectively. Dr Bowden collaborates with Dr Daniel Catchpoole at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and has international collaborations with Prof James Cleaver from University of California San Francisco (USA) and Dr Javed Khan from the National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health (USA). Dr Bowden has obtained over $700,000 in funding, published 11 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and have presented her research 32 times at international and national conferences. Dr Bowden currently supervises a post-doctoral fellow, 3 research higher degree PhD students and 1 Honours student.

Dr Bowden was part of a collaboration that was awarded the Schizophrenia Research Institute Research Paper Award in 2008 and was the recipient of the 2007 Hunter Children's Research Foundation (HCRF) Award for Research Excellence for her research into the DNA repair and skin cancer disorder, Xeroderma Pigmentosum, and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. In 2006, she was awarded the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) PULSE Education Prize, an award presented to an outstanding early career researcher. Dr Bowden has been an invited reviewer for the international funding body Medical Research Council (UK), and the journals BMC Medical Genomics, Cancer Informatics, Schizophrenia Research, Journal of Psychiatric Research and British Journal of Psychiatry. In 2008, she was appointed as a member of the HCRF research committee, the HMRI research participants register committee and the Australian Microarray and Associated Technologies Association (AMATA) 2009 annual meeting organising committee.

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Newcastle, 2006
• Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (Hons), University of Newcastle, 2001
• Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences, University of Newcastle, 2000

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Research

Research keywords

• Childhood Cancer
• DNA repair
• Genetics
• Genomics
• Melanoma

Research expertise

I am a molecular biologist with expertise in high-throughput genomics and genetics. I have a special interest in using state-of-the-art whole genome analysis to develop personalised approaches to treatment and diagnosis of cancer. I was a visiting fellow in Dr Javed Khan’s research group at the NCI/NIH where I received extensive training in whole genome analysis and “bench to bedside” research.

Below is a summary of my current research projects:

1.3.1 Nucleotide Excision Repair Gene Expression in Melanoma:

My main research program is investigating the role of DNA repair in cancer. The results of a pilot study into deficient DNA repair in melanoma have been published in the journal Cancer Research. The publication of this manuscript represents a shift in the central dogma surrounding DNA repair and melanoma. To date there has been a central belief that DNA repair is not involved in development of melanoma. The results of our study have now confirmed the hypothesis that a deficiency in DNA repair is indeed a feature of melanoma and may be the reason why melanomas develop after excessive sun exposure and why melanomas do not respond to common chemotherapeutic agents. The major outcome of this research program will be a biological explanation for why excessive sunlight exposure results in melanomagenesis and why melanomas do not respond to common DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic agents, two of the most elusive features of melanoma.

In addition, I collaborate with Dr Ricardo Vilain and Dr Stephen Braye from the Hunter Area Pathology Service (HAPS) Anatomocal Pathology department to utilise formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) melanoma tissue collected and stored for diagnostic purposes. This tissue represents a very large cohort of individuals from the hunter region with melanoma and allows for retrospective analysis of clinical data such as disease recurrence, response to treatment and survival. Another major advantage of using this tissue is that it requires no direct participation from patients with melanoma thus lessening the burden of research on clinicians and patients. This collaboration was established in 2009 and the preliminary results of several projects have been presented at the 7th International Congress of the Society for Melanoma Research, November 4-7, 2010.

Copy number variation study of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL):

We conducted a pilot study in 2008 to investigate the presence of large genomic deletions and duplications, known as copy number variations (CNVs), in a small cohort of childhood ALL patients. In 2009, We recieved funding to extend this project into a large scale study of CNV's in childhood ALL. We have collaborated with Dr Daniel Catchpoole for the Children's Hospital at Westmead forthis project. This is a large ongoing project but the results of this collaboration to date have been presented at the 9th Australasian Microarray & Associated Technology Association annual meeting on "High-Throughput Genomic Technologies”, October 2009

Collaboration

My primary research interest is DNA repair in melanoma. My current research investigates the DNA repair response in melanoma and normal cells after exposure to DNA damaging agents such as UV-light and chemotherapy drugs.

In addition to my own research projects, I have been involved in several collaborative research programs. These collaborations are outlined below:

Genomic study of tumor progression. Co-investigators: Dr Javed Khan, Dr Peter Johansson, Dr Jun Wei, Dr Qingrong Chen, Dr Tom Badgett, Dr Young Song, Dr Xinyu Wen, Catherine Tolman, Susan Yeh (National Cancer Institute/National Institutes Health, USA)

Investigating melanoma in response to cisplatin treatment. Co-investigators: Prof Peter Hersey, Prof Rodney Scott, A/Prof Xu Dong Zhang, Dr Kelly Avery-Kiejda, Dr Katie Ashton

Copy number variation in Childhood ALL. Co-investigators: Prof Rodney Scott, Dr Bente Talseth-Palmer, Dr Daniel Catchpoole (Children's Hospital at Westmead)

Investigation of gene expression changes in schizophrenia. Co-investigators: Prof. Rodney Scott, Dr Paul Tooney, Dr. Murray Cairns (Schizophrenia Research Institute)

The complex genetics of Multiple Sclerosis. Co-investigators: Dr Jeanette Lechner-Scott (Hunter New England Area Health Service), Prof Rodney Scott.

Molecular Analysis of Neutrophils in Asthma Subtypes. Co-investigators: Dr Katherine Baines, Prof Rodney Scott, Dr Jodie Simpson, and Prof Peter Gibson

Genetics of Breast Cancer. Co-investigators: Prof Rodney Scott, Prof John Forbes, Dr Stephen Braye, Dr Kelly Avery-Kiejda.

Languages

• English

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
060199	Biochemistry And Cell Biology Not Elsewhere Classified	40
060499	Genetics Not Elsewhere Classified	35
111299	Oncology And Carcinogenesis Not Elsewhere Classified	25

Centres and Groups

Centre

• PRC - Priority Research Centre for Bioinformatics, Biomarker Discovery and Information-Based Medicine

Memberships

Committee/Associations (relevant to research).

• Member - Society for Melanoma Research

Appointments

Fellowship National Health & Medical Research Council (Australia)

01/09/2009

Awards

Other

2011	Young Alumni Award University of Newcastle (Australia) Recognition of outstanding graduate of the University of Newcastle under 35 years.

Research Award.

2006	PULSE Education Prize Hunter Medical Research Institute (Australia)
2006	Student Support Award to attend the International Congress on Human Genetics Society of Australasia (Australia)
2004	Student Travel Award World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics (United States)
2003	Student Travel Award Australian Neuroscience Society (Australia)

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Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Genetics

Teaching expertise

The following is a summary of my major research training and teaching:

• Currently supervise 3 PhD students and 1 Honours student

• Supervised B. Biomedical Science 3rd year HUBS3409 students to undertake research project (2009)

• Co-ordinated and delivered the lectures and tutorials for the genetics and genomics component of the M. Pharmacy course PHAR6123 – Human Genomics and Biomolecular Analysis (2005, 2006, 2008)

• Delivered 6 lectures for B. Biomedical Science HUBS2409 Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics in 2008 and annual guest lectures in 2005-2006.