IDENTIFICATION & CHARACTERISATION OF MOLECULAR DRIVERS OF THERAPEUTIC RESISTANCE
With
Professor Pieter Eichhorn
Group Leader, Curtin Medical Research Institute &
Dean of Research Infrastructure & Professor at Curtin University
Western Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Perth, Western Australia | February 2026
Professor Pieter Eichhorn is an internationally experienced cancer biologist and research leader whose career has been defined by high-impact contributions at the interface of functional genomics, translational oncology, and research infrastructure strategy.
He completed his PhD at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, contributing to the cloning of the gene associated with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, before undertaking postdoctoral training at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in the laboratory of René Bernards. There, he performed pioneering functional genetic screens that identified key regulators of oncogenesis and therapy resistance, including critical roles for the PI3K signalling pathway in resistance to targeted breast cancer therapies.
He subsequently worked Dr. Jose Baselga at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology and Harvard Medical School contributing to studies on signalling networks, resistance mechanisms, and ubiquitin pathway regulation in cancer.
A major career highlight has been the identification and characterisation of molecular drivers of therapeutic resistance, including work on PI3K pathway biology and ubiquitin-regulated oncogenic signalling, published in high-impact journals and informing biomarker-driven therapeutic strategies.
At Curtin University, he has established and led a multidisciplinary translational research program focused on deubiquitinases, epithelial plasticity, and non-coding RNA biology in breast and melanoma. In parallel, he has provided strategic leadership as Dean of Research Infrastructure, overseeing major national and institutional infrastructure investments, NCRIS-aligned initiatives, and large-scale collaborative platforms that enhance research capability and clinical translation.
COLLABORATIONS
National University of Singapore, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Peter Mac, Vall d’Hebron, Helmholtz Munich, University of Manchester,
FUNDING
World Cancer Research Fund, Cancer Council Wa, Australia Center for RNA Therapy in Cancer
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5840-943X
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Mechanisms of resistance to menin inhibitor therapy and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia
Dr Rithin Nedumannil (MBBS, MPH, FRACP, FRCPA) is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, undertaking his doctoral studies in collaboration with the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (Cambridge, UK) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Melbourne, Australia). He is a clinical haematologist and haematopathologist with current appointments at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Austin Health and Northern Health.
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Biological interactions of extracellular vesicles
Raluca Ghebosu graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science with majors in Japanese and Biomedical Science (2018-2021). She then completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) with the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland in 2022, before pursuing a PhD with A/Prof. Joy Wolfram at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.
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Metabolic phenotyping, lipidomics & bioinformatics in dementia
Dr Luke Whiley is a dementia researcher whose work focuses on understanding how the body’s metabolism, particularly the biology of fats known as lipids, influences our health throughout ageing.
His research explores how the body responds to illness, lifestyle, and environmental stress at a chemical level, and how these responses shape longterm disease risk. Using advanced blood-based measurement technologies, Dr Whiley studies thousands of small molecules at once to build a snapshot of a person’s metabolic health. By combining these measurements with data science approaches, his work identifies biological pathways that become disrupted in disease, providing insight into why some people are more vulnerable to conditions such as dementia.
