Contacts
Professor Hannan is an internationally recognised laboratory scientist, whose work on ribosome biogenesis has led to new treatment paradigms in cancer, centred on drugs that activate nucleolar stress. He received his PhD from the University of Tasmania in 1994, before undertaking postdoctoral research in the USA. Since returning to Australia in 2000, he has held prominent positions at the Baker Medical Research Institute and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Recently Ross brought together multi-disciplinary teams of laboratory and clinician researchers, and forged industry collaborations to devise ‘first in class’ RNA polymerase I inhibitors, that are now in clinical trial for a range of heamatologic cancers. Hannan’s far-reaching contributions were recognised in his recent appointment as inaugural Centenary Chair in Cancer Research and Head of the ACRF Department of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics at John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU.
Professor Hannan is a Group Leader at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne in The Oncogenic Signalling And Growth Control Program
Research interests
- Cancer Biology
- Cancer Therapeutics
- Transcription
- Chromatin and Epigenetics
- Ribosome Biogenesis
- High Throughput Functional Screening
- Genomics
Areas of expertise
- Cancer Cell Biology
- Cancer Genetics
- Cancer Therapy (Excl. Chemotherapy And Radiation Therapy)
- Haematological Tumours
- Molecular Targets
- Cell Development, Proliferation And Death
- Signal Transduction
- Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Groups
- Leader, The Hannan Group - Cancer Therapeutics
- Collaborator, The Quinn Group - Brain Cancer Discovery
- Collaborator, The Schulte Group - Systems Biology of Cancer
Projects
- Researcher, A novel role for the pol I transcription factor UBF in the regulation of expression of histone gene clusters and cellular DNA damage responses
- Researcher, Investigating how pertubations in ribosome biogenesis and the nucleolar surveillance response modulate cellular growth
- Researcher, Regulation of chromatin remodeling of the rRNA genes in mouse embryonic stem cells
- Supervisor, RNA polymerase I inhibitors as therapeutics for cancer: analysis of p53 -dependent and – independent cell cycle checkpoints
- Supervisor, RNA polymerase I inhibitors as therapeutics for cancer: Testing combination therapies for haematologic malignancies
Recent Selected Publications
Devlin, JR, Hannan, KM, Hein, N, Cullinane, C, Kusnadi, E, Ng, PY, George, AJ, Shortt, J, Bywater, MJ, Poortinga, G, Sanij, E, Kang, J, Drygin, D, O'Brien, S, Johnstone, RW, McArthur, GA, Hannan RD and Pearson, RB (2016) Combination therapy targeting ribosome biogenesis and mRNA translation synergistically extends survival in MYC-driven lymphoma. Cancer Discovery 6(1):59-70
Guo L, Zaysteva O, Nie Z, Mitchell NC, Er J, Lee A, Ware T, Parsons L, Luwor R, Poortinga G, Hannan RD, Levens DL and Quinn LM (2016) Defining the essential function of FBP/KSRP proteins: Drosophila Psi interacts with the Mediator Complex to modulate MYC transcription and tissue growth. Nucleic Acid Research 44(16):7646-58
Kang J, Kusnardi EP, Ogden A, Hicks RJ, Bammert L, Kutay U, Hung S, Sanij E, Hannan RD, Hannan KM and Pearson RB (2016) Amino acid-dependent signaling via S6K1 and MYC is essential for regulation of rDNA transcription Oncotarget 7(31):48887-48904
Quin J, Chan KT, Devlin JR, Cameron DP, Diesch J, Cullinane C, Ahern J, Khot A, Hein N, George AJ, Hannan KM, Poortinga G, Sheppard KE, Khanna KK, Johnstone RW, Drygin D, McArthur GA, Pearson RB, Sanij E and Hannan RD (2016) Inhibition of RNA Polymerase transcription initiation activates non-canonical ATM/ATR signaling. Oncotarget 7(31): 49800-49818
Rebello RJ, Kusnadi E, Cameron D, Pearson H, Lesmana A, Devlin J, Drygin D, Clark AK, Porter L, Pedersen J, Sandhu S, Risbridger GP, Pearson RB, Hannan RD and Furic L (2016) The dual inhibition of RNA Pol I transcription and PIM kinase as a new therapeutic approach to treat advanced prostate cancer. Clinical Cancer Research 22(22):5539-5552
Chan KT, Paavolainen L, Hannan KM, George AJ, Hannan RD, Simpson KJ, Horvath P and Pearson RB (2016) Whole-Genome RNAi screening and phenotypic classification analysis to identify regulators of oncogene-Induced senescence. Assay and Drug Development Technologies 14(7): 416-428
