BSc ANU, MAppSc NSWIT, PhD UNSW
Deputy Director, CCIA
Head of Program, Molecular Diagnostics
Email: mnorris@ccia.unsw.edu.au

Professor Norris began working at CCIA when its research laboratories opened in 1984. He is Head of the Molecular Diagnostics Program and was appointed Deputy Director of CCIA in 2000. His research interests focus on utilising new molecular genetic technologies to improve the diagnosis and risk classification and treatment of childhood cancer, and he has been responsible for developing and implementing unique technology enabling the early prediction of relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Professor Norris has an international research reputation in childhood neuroblastoma, particularly with regards to the molecular analysis of genes and their relationship with clinical variables. He has spent over 25 years investigating childhood cancers at the molecular level and has undertaken extensive research into the characterisation of genes involved in mediating resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs in paediatric leukaemia and neuroblastoma. The development of new therapeutic approaches to treating cancers and the detection of minimal residual leukaemia are key areas of his research. He is the author of more than 110 peer-reviewed papers and has an established record of state and national grant-funded research.

Key publications

1. Fletcher JI, Haber, M, Henderson MJ, Norris MD (2010). ABC transporters in cancer: more than just drug efflux pumps. Nat Rev Cancer. 10, 147-156.

2. Porro A, Haber M, Diolaiti D, Iraci N, Henderson M, Gherardi S, Valli E, Munoz MA, Xue C, Flemming C, Schwab M, Wong JH, Marshall GM, Valle GD, Norris MD, Perini G (2010). Direct and coordinate regulation of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes by MYC factors generates specific transcription signatures which significantly affect the chemoresistance phenotype of cancer cells. J Biol Chem 285: 19532-19543

3. Burkhart CA, Watt F, Murray J, Pajic M, Prokvolit A, Xue C, Flemming C, Smith J, Purmal A, Isachenko N, Komarov PG, Gurova KV, Sartorelli AC, Marshall GM, Norris MD, Gudkov AV, Haber M (2009). Small Molecule MRP1 Inhibitor Reversan Increases the Therapeutic Index of Chemotherapy in Mouse Model of Neuroblastoma. Cancer Res 69: 6573-80.

4. Hogarty MD, Norris MD, Davis K, Liu X, Evageliou NF, Hayes CS, Pawel B, Guo R, Zhao H, Sekyere E, Keating J, Thomas W, Cheng NC, Murray J, Smith J, Sutton R, Venn N, London WB, Buxton A, Gilmour SK, Marshall GM, Haber M (2008). ODC1 Is a Critical Determinant of MYCN Oncogenesis and a Therapeutic Target in Neuroblastoma. Cancer Research 68(23): 9735-9745.

5. Xue C, Haber M, Flemming C, Marshall GM, Lock RB, MacKenzie KL, Gurova KV, Norris MD, Gudkov AV (2007). p53 determines multidrug sensitivity of childhood neuroblastoma. Cancer Res 67:10351-60

 
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