Professor Anna Nowak

Note: Anna is no longer accepting students, as she has stepped away from new research roles.

Anna completed her medical training at UWA in 1990, medical oncology training (FRACP) in 2000, and a PhD at UWA in 2003 in tumour immunology. With her laboratory-based PhD thesis, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical trials and quality of life research, Anna has gained a unique translational perspective with expertise in laboratory science, clinical trials, patient-rated outcomes and quality of life. She has longstanding research and clinical interests in malignant mesothelioma. Professor Nowak was the Director of NCARD from 2018 to 2022, where she led and collaborated with around 35 scientific staff and graduate students. Anna is passionate about patient-doctor communication, mentoring, and women in oncology and science.

• Laboratory tests to understand why some patients with mesothelioma respond better to a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy
• Molecular mechanisms of response and resistance to immunotherapy in mesothelioma
• Using gene expression to predict successful responses to chemoimmunotherapy
• Developing novel strategies to manage cancer immunotherapy side effects
• Targeted epigenetic modification to improve mesothelioma responses to immunotherapy
• The application of TCR sequencing to understand how an individual’s immune system contributes to therapy success
• Understanding how changes in immune cells over time contribute to cancer therapy success
• Tracking of tumour PD-L1 levels in vivo using radiolabelled anti-PD-L1 and PET-CT imaging
• Mixed Radiotherapy Fractionation: Modulating Tumour Microenvironment to Stimulate and Enhance Immunotherapy
• The MexTAg Collaborative Cross: Understanding how host genetics affect mesothelioma development after asbestos exposure

• Appointed Pro Vice Chancellor (Health and Medical Research) at UWA.
• Invited to Board of Cancer Council of Western Australia 2020.

• Nowak AK, Blancafort P, Lake RA, Lesterhuis WJ, Chee J, Creaney J, Waddell N. Targeted Epigenetic Modification to Improve Mesothelioma Responses to Immunotherapy. US Department of Defense Idea Award with Special Focus. USD399, 398. 2020-2021.
• Anagnostou V, Forde P, Nowak AK. Molecular Mechanisms of Response and Resistance to Immunotherapy in Mesothelioma. US Department of Defense Translational Team Science Award. USD258, 214 2020-2023.
• Fisher S, Lake RA, Morahan G, Ram R, Nowak AK, Lesterhuis J, Bueno R. The MexTAg Collaborative Cross: Understanding Genetic Modifiers in Mesothelioma. USA Department of Defense. 2018-19. $500,375. CA170299
• Fisher S, Lake RA, Nowak AK. The MexTAg Collaborative Cross. iCARE Dust Diseases Board. $246,884. 2018-19
• McDonnell A, Nowak AK, Lake RA, Robinson B, Cook A. Identifying immune biomarkers of response to chemotherapy in malignant mesothelioma. iCARE Dust Diseases Board. $232,926. 2018-19
• Ebert M, Cook A, Nowak AK, Gill S. Mixed radiotherapy fractionation: modulating tumour microenvironment to stimulate and enhance immunotherapy. Cancer Australia. 2019-2021. $597,521 APP1163065
• Alistair Forrest, Peter Leedman, Ryan Lister, Timo Lassmann, Christobel Saunders, Camile Farah, Bruce Robinson, Anna Nowak, Ursula Kees, Terrance Johns, Ruth Ganss, Wendy Erber, Mel Ziman, Richard Lake, Michael Millward, Benhur Amanuel. Centre for Advanced Cancer Genomics. $1,750,000. Australian Cancer Research Foundation equipment grant. 2017
• Robinson BWS, Nowak AK, Millward MJ, Creaney J, Holt R, Watson M, Wadell N, Chee J, Newell EW. The impact of therapy on T-cell recognition of mutated tumour neo-antigens. APP1146909. $1,111,129. 20 2018-2021.

See Prof Anna Nowak’s UWA Profile for a full list of publications

ORCID

UWA research repository profile

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UWA Profile