Associate Professor Amee George
Research interests
- High throughput screening
- Functional genomics
- siRNA screening (high content and high throughput)
- Compound screening
- High content imaging and data analysis
- Ribosome biogenesis
- Ribosomopathies (Diamond Blackfan Anaemia)
- Cancer cell biology
- Cell signalling
- Cell biology
Biography
A/Prof Amee George is a group leader (Pharmacogenomics Technologies) in the Division of Genome Sciences and Cancer, and heads the ANU Centre for Therapeutic Discovery, at the John Curtin School of Medical Research. She obtained her PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2007. Early in her career, she developed a keen interest in high-throughput screening and the use of functional genomics-based approaches to investigate the molecular basis of disease. Her first postdoctoral appointment at the University of Queensland investigated how angiotensin receptor signalling hijacks growth factor receptor pathways and leads to aberrant cell growth. Her subsequent postdoctoral appointments (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne and John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU) utilised high-throughput screening methods to investigate how perturbations in ribosome biogenesis leads to the activation of the nucleolar surveillance response, which is an important molecular mechanism underlying some diseases of the ribosome (ribosomopathies). A/Prof George has a specific research interest in ribosomopathies, in particular, the congenital bone marrow failure disorder Diamond Blackfan Anaemia (DBA) and developing novel therapeutic approaches to treat these disorders. She has received funding from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Captain Courageous Foundation and Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision for this work. In her role as Lead of the ACTD (since 2017), she facilitates and collaborates on high-throughput screening and drug discovery projects across a broad range of disciplines for both academic and industry clients.
Publications
- Gauthier-Coles, G, Broer, A, McLeod, M et al. 2022, 'Identification and characterization of a novel SNAT2 (SLC38A2) inhibitor reveals synergy with glucose transport inhibition in cancer cells', Frontiers in Pharmacology, vol. 13.
- Hicks, S, Pohl, K, Neeman, T et al. 2021, 'A Dual-Antigen Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Allows the Assessment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Antibody Seroprevalence in a Low-Transmission Setting', Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 223, no. 1, pp. 10-14.
- Chan, K, Blake, S, Zhu, H et al. 2020, 'A functional genetic screen defines the AKT-induced senescence signaling network', Cell Death and Differentiation, vol. 27, pp. 725-741.
- Chin, C, Antony, J, Ketharnathan, S et al. 2020, 'Cohesin mutations are synthetic lethal with stimulation of WNT signaling', eLife, vol. 9.
- Nunez Villacis, L, Al-Obaidi, S, Madhamshettiwar, P et al. 2018, 'A High-Throughput Screening Approach to Identify Therapeutics for the Treatment of Diamond-Blackfan Anaemia', Blood, vol. 132, no. 1.
- Chen, J, Siva, K, Rzymski, T et al. 2018, 'Small Molecule Screens Identify CDK8-Inhibitors As Candidate Diamond-Blackfan Anemia Drugs [Meeting Abstract]', Blood, vol. 132, no. 1.
- Nunez Villacis, L, Wong, M, Ferguson, L et al. 2018, 'New Roles for the Nucleolus in Health and Disease', Bioessays, vol. 40, no. 5, pp. 11pp.
- He, J, Soo, H, Evers, M et al. 2018, 'High-Content Imaging Approaches to Quantitate Stress-Induced Changes in Nucleolar Morphology', Assay and Drug Development Technologies, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 320-332pp.
- Coulson, R, Liew, S, Connelly, A et al 2017, 'The angiotensin receptor blocker, Losartan, inhibits mammary tumor development and progression to invasive carcinoma', Oncotarget, vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 18640-18656pp.
- Hein, N, Cameron, D, Hannan, K et al. 2017, 'Inhibition of Pol I transcription treats murine and human AML by targeting the leukemia-initiating cell population', Blood, vol. 129, no. 21, pp. 2882-2895pp.
- George, A, Allen, A & Chand, A 2017, 'Repurposing ARBs as treatments for breast cancer', Aging, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 1357-1358pp.
- Venugopal, P, Moore, S, Lawrence, D et al 2017, 'Self-reverting mutations partially correct the blood phenotype in a Diamond Blackfan Anemia patient', Haematologica, vol. 102, no. 12, pp. e506-e509pp.
- Devlin, J, Hannan, K, Hein, N et al. 2016, 'Combination Therapy Targeting Ribosome Biogenesis and mRNA Translation Synergistically Extends Survival in MYC-Driven Lymphoma', Cancer Discovery, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 59-70.
- Quin, J, Chan, K, Devlin, J et al. 2016, 'Inhibition of RNA polymerase I transcription initiation by CX-5461 activates non-canonical ATM/ATR signaling', Oncotarget, vol. 7, no. 31, pp. 49800-49818.
- Chan, K, Paavolainen, L, Hannan, K et al. 2016, 'Combining high-content imaging and phenotypic classification analysis of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase staining to identify regulators of oncogene-induced senescence', Assay and Drug Development Technologies, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 416-428.
- Harrison, S, George, A & Hannan, R 2015, 'Commentary - A new window on cancer therapy? Targeting the nucleolus and ribosome biogenesis using the small molecule inhibitor of polymerase I transcription, CX-5461', International Journal of Hematologic Oncology, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 61-65pp.
- Sjogren, S, Siva, K, Soneji, S et al 2015, 'Glucocorticoids improve erythroid progenitor maintenance and dampen Trp53 response in a mouse model of Diamond-Blackfan anaemia', British Journal of Haematology, vol. 171, no. 4, pp. 517-529.
- Hein, N, Hannan, K, George, A et al. 2013, 'The nucleolus: An emerging target for cancer therapy', Trends in Molecular Medicine, vol. 19, no. 11, pp. 643-654.
- George, A, Purdue, B, Gould, C et al 2013, 'A functional siRNA screen identifies genes modulating angiotensin II-mediated EGFR transactivation', Journal of Cell Science, vol. 126, no. 23, pp. 5377-5390.
- George, A, Hannan, R & Thomas, W 2013, 'Unravelling the molecular complexity of GPCR-mediated EGFR transactivation using functional genomics approaches', The FEBS Journal, vol. 280, no. 21, pp. 5258-5268.
- George, A, Purdue, B, Gould, K et al 2012, 'A Functional SiRNA Screening Approach to Investigate the Mechanism Underlying GPCR-mediated EGFR Transactivation in Malignancy', European Journal of Cancer, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. S149-S149.
- Astle, M, Hannan, K, Ng, P et al. 2012, 'AKT induces senescence in human cells via mTORC1 and p53 in the absence of DNA damage: Implications for targeting mTOR during malignancy', Oncogene, vol. 31, no. 15, pp. 1949-1962.
- George, A, Thomas, W & Hannan, R 2010, 'The renin-angiotensin system and cancer: Old dog, new tricks', Nature Reviews Cancer, vol. 10, no. 11, pp. 745-759.
- George, A, Gordon, L, Beissbarth, T et al 2010, 'A Serial Analysis of Gene Expression Profile of the Alzheimer's Disease Tg2576 Mouse Model', Neurotoxicity Research, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 360-379.
- Wong, L, McGhie, J, Sim, M et al 2010, 'ATRX interacts with H3.3 in maintaining telomere structural integrity in pluripotent embryonic stem cells', Genome Research, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 351-360.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- NHMRC Small Equipment Grant 2022 - Developing 3D organoid drug screening platforms to improve pre-clinical outcomes - Link to ARIES 41237 (Secondary Investigator)
- NHMRC Equipment Grant 2021: ACDT Equipment - Linked to ARIES ID 39296 (Secondary Investigator)
- NSW RNA Production and Research Network - Support and Services Pillar (Secondary Investigator)
- Epigenetic regulator H2A.B as a novel target for treatment of Hodgkin Lymphoma (Secondary Investigator)
- BioTek MultiFlo FX with AMX Module and Wash Module (see 37697) (Secondary Investigator)
- PfATP4 screening - A pH-based 'fingerprint' screen to simultaneously identify inhibitors of multiple validated and potential antimalarial drug targets (Secondary Investigator)
- Harnessing the Nucleolar Surveillance Response to Treat Disease (Secondary Investigator)
- Identifying therapeutics which can be repurposed for the treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndrome and other Bone Marrow Failure Disorders (Primary Investigator)
- The ACRF Department of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics (Secondary Investigator)
- The Australian Diamond-Blackfan Anaemia Program (ADBA) - including CRISPR and Therapeutic program (Secondary Investigator)
