Associate Professor
Liesel FitzGeraldProfile page
Principal Research Fellow
Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Orcid identifier0000-0002-6882-2698
- Principal Research FellowMenzies Institute for Medical Research
- 6226 4263 (Work)
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, 439b Menzies MS2, Hobart CBD Campuses, TAS
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Research Themes
Assoc Prof FitzGerald’s research aligns with the University’s Better Health research theme. Her research aims to take advantage of the existing Tasmanian familial and case-control prostate cancer resources, consisting of both germline and tumour samples, to identify rare variants associated with risk of disease. This work will lead to better knowledge of the underlying biology involved in prostate cancer development and could identify biomarkers for disease screening as well as genomic targets for novel and existing therapies. This research uses a variety of methodologies including linkage analysis, whole genome sequencing, TaqMan genotyping and gene and protein expression detection techniques.
More recently, Assoc Prof FitzGerald has initiated a Tasmanian clinical and genomics resource, Biomarkers to Improve Outcomes in Prostate Cancer (BIOPC). This resource combines the clinically rich Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry – Tasmania (PCOR-TAS) with germline and tumour samples from participating prostate cancer cases. Recently there have been major advances in understanding the genomics of prostate cancer risk but there are still significant gaps in understanding why a third of patients’ disease progresses to an aggressive form despite therapeutic intervention, and why some patients respond better than others to particular treatments. The proposed resource will allow us to address these issues, in addition to identifing disparities in diagnosis, treatment and outcomes (clinical and quality-of-life) across Tasmanian prostate cancer patients.
In the era of ‘precision medicine’, through their research Assoc Prof FitzGerald and her colleagues aim to move diagnosis and treatment of patients from a ‘one treatment suits all’ basis to an individual genomics-based approach. Essential components for the delivery of such a system include biospecimens that have been well characterised with clinical, treatment and outcomes data. Through the realisation of Assoc Prof FitzGerald’s research using unique Tasmanian prostate cancer resources, the way men are diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer, as well as disease outcomes, will be significantly improved.
Collaboration
Assoc Prof FitzGerald is participating in several national and international collaborative studies. A key research study that is currently underway with national collaborators, Professors Graham Giles (Cancer Council Victoria) and Melissa Southey (Monash University), aims to identify prognostic biomarkers using diagnostic prostate cancer tissue. Methodologies used in this research study include epigenome-wide methylation and transcriptome-wide gene expression assays. Assoc Prof FitzGerald also has long-standing and on-going research projects with international collaborator, Professor Janet Stanford (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center). Currently, they have two studies underway including a next-generation whole exome sequencing study of prostate cancer families and a prognostic biomarker study that has applied transcriptome-wide gene expression arrays to radical prostatectomy tissue samples.
Awards
Cancer Council Tasmania/College of Health and Medicine Senior Research Fellowship 2018 – 2021
Open to Talent Research Fellowship 2015 – 2018
Cure Cancer/Movember Young Investigator Award 2013 - 2014
David Hill Cancer Council Victoria Fellowship 2012 – 2015
SPORE Post-Doctoral Fellowship 2007 – 2009
ASMR Medical Research Week Finalist 2007
Jeanne Foster Scholarship for professional development in cancer control 2005
Menzies Research Institute PhD Scholarship 2003 – 2006
Queensland Institute of Medical Research Honours Scholarship 1995
Assoc Prof FitzGerald’s research aligns with the University’s Better Health research theme. Her research aims to take advantage of the existing Tasmanian familial and case-control prostate cancer resources, consisting of both germline and tumour samples, to identify rare variants associated with risk of disease. This work will lead to better knowledge of the underlying biology involved in prostate cancer development and could identify biomarkers for disease screening as well as genomic targets for novel and existing therapies. This research uses a variety of methodologies including linkage analysis, whole genome sequencing, TaqMan genotyping and gene and protein expression detection techniques.
More recently, Assoc Prof FitzGerald has initiated a Tasmanian clinical and genomics resource, Biomarkers to Improve Outcomes in Prostate Cancer (BIOPC). This resource combines the clinically rich Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry – Tasmania (PCOR-TAS) with germline and tumour samples from participating prostate cancer cases. Recently there have been major advances in understanding the genomics of prostate cancer risk but there are still significant gaps in understanding why a third of patients’ disease progresses to an aggressive form despite therapeutic intervention, and why some patients respond better than others to particular treatments. The proposed resource will allow us to address these issues, in addition to identifing disparities in diagnosis, treatment and outcomes (clinical and quality-of-life) across Tasmanian prostate cancer patients.
In the era of ‘precision medicine’, through their research Assoc Prof FitzGerald and her colleagues aim to move diagnosis and treatment of patients from a ‘one treatment suits all’ basis to an individual genomics-based approach. Essential components for the delivery of such a system include biospecimens that have been well characterised with clinical, treatment and outcomes data. Through the realisation of Assoc Prof FitzGerald’s research using unique Tasmanian prostate cancer resources, the way men are diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer, as well as disease outcomes, will be significantly improved.
Collaboration
Assoc Prof FitzGerald is participating in several national and international collaborative studies. A key research study that is currently underway with national collaborators, Professors Graham Giles (Cancer Council Victoria) and Melissa Southey (Monash University), aims to identify prognostic biomarkers using diagnostic prostate cancer tissue. Methodologies used in this research study include epigenome-wide methylation and transcriptome-wide gene expression assays. Assoc Prof FitzGerald also has long-standing and on-going research projects with international collaborator, Professor Janet Stanford (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center). Currently, they have two studies underway including a next-generation whole exome sequencing study of prostate cancer families and a prognostic biomarker study that has applied transcriptome-wide gene expression arrays to radical prostatectomy tissue samples.
Awards
Cancer Council Tasmania/College of Health and Medicine Senior Research Fellowship 2018 – 2021
Open to Talent Research Fellowship 2015 – 2018
Cure Cancer/Movember Young Investigator Award 2013 - 2014
David Hill Cancer Council Victoria Fellowship 2012 – 2015
SPORE Post-Doctoral Fellowship 2007 – 2009
ASMR Medical Research Week Finalist 2007
Jeanne Foster Scholarship for professional development in cancer control 2005
Menzies Research Institute PhD Scholarship 2003 – 2006
Queensland Institute of Medical Research Honours Scholarship 1995
PROJECTS
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CONSULTANCY/CONTRACT RESEARCH
Improving assessment approaches for deep-water species
CSIRO-Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation1 Jan 2021 - 31 May 2022
People funded by this grant: Krueck N, Burch P, Curin Osorio S
Project Total: $24,000; The project aims to estimate productivity of Orange Roughy stocks and undertake a risk assessment that incorporates the uncertainty in Orange
Roughy natural mortality and steepness of the stock recruitment relationship. The project further aims to review the characteristics and discarding
practices of species in the Deepwater shark basket (multiple species are assessed as a single complex) Funded by: CSIRO-Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation ($24,000); University of Tasmania.