BSc UC Swansea, PhD London
Head of Program, Leukaemia Biology Program
Email: rlock@ccia.unsw.edu.au

Professor Lock was recruited as Head of CCIA's Leukaemia Biology Program in 1998 from the position of Associate Professor, Department of Medicine and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Prior to his move, he had attained an international reputation in the cancer-related fields of cell cycle control, drug resistance, and mechanisms of programmed cell death (apoptosis).

Since arriving at CCIA, Professor Lock has successfully developed a clinically relevant laboratory model for the in vivo growth of human acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) cells - the first such model in Australia. The model now plays a central role in the preclinical evaluation of anticancer agents and the identification of new targets for targeted therapies.

Professor Lock's contribution to cancer research has been reflected in his authorship of more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, including several in prestigious journals such as Blood, Cancer Research, Cell Stem Cell, Clinical Cancer Research, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Oncogene. He is currently a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellow, and has been awarded research grants by the National Cancer Institute (USA), The Cancer Council NSW (Australia), and the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia).

Key publications

1. Lock, RB, Liem, N, Farnsworth, ML, Milross, CG, Xue, C, Tajbakhsh, M, Haber, M, Norris, MD, Marshall, GM, and Rice, AM (2002). The non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) mouse model of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia reveals intrinsic differences in biological characteristics at diagnosis and relapse. Blood, 99: 4100-4108

2. Liem, NLM, Papa, RA, Milross, CG, Schmid, MA, Tajbakhsh, M, Choi, S, Ramirez, CD, Rice, AM, Haber, M, Norris, MD, MacKenzie, KL, and Lock, RB (2004). Characterization of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia xenograft models for the preclinical evaluation of new therapies. Blood, 103: 3905-3914

3. Bachmann, PS, Gorman, R, MacKenzie, KL, Lutze-Mann, L, and Lock, RB (2005). Dexamethasone resistance in B-cell precursor childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia occurs downstream of ligand-induced nuclear translocation of the glucocorticoid receptor. Blood, 105: 2519-252

4. Jin, L, Lee, EM, Ramshaw, HS, Busfield, SJ, Peoppl, AG, Wilkinson, L, Guthridge, MA, Thomas, D, Barry, EF, Boyd, A, Gearing, DP, Vairo, G, Lopez, AF, Dick, JE, and Lock, RB (2009) Monoclonal antibody-mediated targeting of CD123 (IL-3 receptor a chain) eliminates human acute myeloid leukemic stem cells. Cell Stem Cell, 5: 31-42

5. Bachmann, P, Piazza, RG, Janes, ME, Wong, NC, Davies, C, Mogavero, A, Bhadri, VA, Szymanska, B, Geninson, G, Magistroni, V, Cazzaniga, G, Biondi, A, Miranda-Saavedra, D, Göttgens, B, Saffery, R, Craig, JM, Marshall, GM, Gambacorti-Passerini, C, Pimanda, JE, and Lock, RB (2010) Epigenetic silencing of BIM in glucocorticoid poor-responsive pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and its reversal by histone deacetylase inhibition. Blood, 116: 3113-3022

6. Carol, H, Szymanska, B, Evans, K, Boehm, I, Houghton, PJ, Smith, MA,. and Lock, RB (2013) The anti-CD19 antibody-drug conjugate SAR3419 prevents hematolymphoid relapse post induction therapy in preclinical models of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Clinical Cancer Research, doi:10.1158/1078-0432.

 
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