Melissa R Pitman
Dr Melissa Pitman is the head of the newly established Ovarian Cancer and Drug Discovery Laboratory at the University of Adelaide. She gained her research training in enzymology, protein biochemistry and in silico-based drug discovery during her PhD at Flinders University. With a keen interest in cancer, Dr Pitman moved to the Centre for Cancer Biology to study the role of the sphingolipid pathway with the Molecular Therapeutics Laboratory. During her post-doctoral work she studied links between sphingolipid regulation and ovarian cancer, identifying key targets for therapeutic intervention. She utilised her skills in drug discovery to identify and validate small-molecule inhibitors that target sphingolipid signalling. Her work has led to the development of a spin-off company, Cincera Therapeutics, that is focussed on the development of anti-fibrotic agents. Dr Pitman’s work is focussed on the identification and testing of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of ovarian cancer and includes the development and use of powerful preclinical models of this disease.
Abstracts this author is presenting: