ROCK-INDUCED EARLY-ONSET BOWEL CANCER PROGRESSION
Professor Michael Samuel
Head, Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory
Centre for Cancer Biology
SA Pathology and University of South Australia &
Principal Investigator at the Cancer Mechanotherapies Laboratory,
Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Adelaide, South Australia | January 2025
Michael Samuel is a cell biologist whose research interest is in understanding how cancer mechanobiology influences the tumour microenvironment, thereby promoting tumour progression. He is Professor of Matrix Biology at the University of South Australia, Adelaide and heads the Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory at the Centre for Cancer Biology and the Cancer Mechanotherapies Laboratory at the Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research.
He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne in 2004, working with Prof. Matthias Ernst at the Ludwig Institute. He then joined the laboratory of Prof. Mike Olson at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow, with whom he identified the role of the Rho-ROCK signalling pathway in regulating tumour-promoting mechanical properties of the dermal extracellular matrix. He returned to Australia in 2012 to join the Centre for Cancer Biology as a Laboratory Head.
Discoveries from his laboratory include a role for the ER-stress protein CRELD2 in the recruitment and education of cancer-associated fibroblasts and the roles of Rho-ROCK signalling in the tumour immune microenvironment. He has been awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, an Emerging Leader Award by the Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology (2020), the Barry Preston Award for leadership in the field, by the Matrix Biology Society of Australia and New Zealand (2021) and the Australian Breast Cancer Fellowship by The Hospital Research Foundation (2023).
In April 2024, Bowel Cancer Australia announced a team led by Professor Michael Samuel as the successful applicant for a three-year AUD$600k early-onset bowel cancer research project through the 2023 round of Cancer Australia’s Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme (PdCCRS).
Professor Samuel of the Centre for Cancer Biology (an alliance between the University of South Australia and SA Pathology) and the Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research are investigating ROCK-induced early-onset bowel cancer progression.
His team will also be examining whether proteins that interact with ROCK cause early-onset bowel cancer progression, and if they do, targeting these proteins would be a way of stopping ROCK from accelerating tumour growth.
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Treatment pathways for chronic plantar heel pain
Jason Rogers is a Tasmanian physiotherapist clinician-researcher with a longstanding interest in improving musculoskeletal foot and ankle conditions. He completed his PhD at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania in 2022 investigating the clinical and imaging factors associated with a common foot complaint known as chronic plantar heel pain.
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Impact of NextSense Institute Research in the field of sensory disabilities
NextSense has a 165 year history of providing services and education for individuals with sensory impairments. With the support of donations, NextSense provides vital support for children and adults, more cochlear implants than any other service in Australia, and is a world leader for research, technology and professional education in the fields of visions and hearing loss.
NextSense clinicians are actively involved in a number of leading research projects—both independently and in collaboration with local and international organisations. The NextSense Institute, part of NextSense is Australia’s leading centre for research and professional education in the field of sensory disabilities.
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Precision and personalised nutrition
Laureate Professor Clare Collins is helping people access effective medical nutrition therapies that significantly reduce their risk of chronic disease. She and her team are developing innovative technologies, including apps and online programmes.
