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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Targeting chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer patients
Dr Alex Cole, from the Centenary Institute’s Centre for Biomedical AI, is now leading the research focused on developing a new treatment to counteract a protein called follistatin (FST), known for making ovarian cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy.
By employing cutting-edge molecular biology and directed evolution techniques, the project aims to create nanobodies—small, precise molecules—that can block FST. If successful, these nanobodies could enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy and improve ovarian cancer treatment rates.
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Inner ear organoids for the study of human hearing and balance
Dr Jackie Ogier is an auditory neuroscientist, with a research focus on the molecular biology of hair cells, the specialised sensory receptors in the ear that detect sound and balance. She is a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of A/Prof Bryony Nayagam, supported by a prestigious Passe and Williams foundation fellowship.
Dr Ogier’s experience broadly spans the genetics of hearing loss, disease modelling, micro dissection, primary cell culture, stem cell culture, organoids, and proteomics. Overall, she aims to generate knowledge of hearing and vestibular sensory biology.
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Stem cell therapies for enteric neuropathies
Dr Stamp is a Group Leader in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr Stamp’s PhD research (with Prof Martin Pera, Monash University) focused on the derivation of hepatopancreatic progenitors from human embryonic stem cells. He then joined the lab of Dr Don Newgreen at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute where he began working on development of the enteric nervous system (ENS), before joining Prof Heather Young’s lab at the University of Melbourne, where he focused on developing a stem cell therapy to treat gut motility disorders such as the paediatric enteric neuropathy Hirschprung disease.
