Normand Pouliot Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2019

Normand Pouliot

Dr Pouliot undertook his PhD at the University of Melbourne/Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research during which he identified various autocrine factors regulating colon cancerprogression. This work identified a specific isoform of the basement membrane protein, laminin (laminin-511), and sparked his interest in matrix biology in cancer. During his post-doctoral training at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre he studied microenvironment factors regulating the function of keratinocyte stem cells in skin regeneration, maturation and cancer. He joined the Metastasis Research Laboratory in 2000 where he established his research group focused on the role of matrix proteins and integrin receptors in breast cancer metastasis. This work has led to the development of several pre-clinical mouse models of metastasis that he uses to validate the function of ECM-related genes and to test therapies targeting integrin-ECM interactions. He joined the Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute in Melbourne in 2016 to head the Matrix Microenvironment & Metastasis Laboratory under the umbrella of the newly established Translational Breast Cancer Program. His current research focuses on evaluating novel therapies for metastatic HER2+ve and Triple Negative Breast Cancer in clinically relevant syngeneic mouse models, with a strong emphasis on brain metastasis.