Research output per year
Research output per year
Professor, MB BS W.Aust., DPhil Oxf., MRCP(UK)
The University of Western Australia (000), 35 Stirling Highway,
6009 Perth
Australia
Fiona Pixley is a physician scientist with an MBBS(Hons) from the University of Western Australia and a DPhil in Clinical Medicine/Epidemiology from the University of Oxford where she was a Rhodes Scholar. After 5 years of physician training in Oxford and London hospitals, she became a member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and returned to biomedical research. With the understanding that the use of molecular approaches was critical to elucidating the causes of disease, she spent a year learning techniques in molecular and cell biology at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford. Dr Pixley subsequently worked with Richard Stanley at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York on the role of CSF-1 and tyrosine phosphorylation in the regulation of macrophage adhesion and motility. In 2007 she moved back to the University of Western Australia to start up her own laboratory in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.
The current focus of research in the Pixley laboratory is examining how tumour-associated macrophages promote cancer progression with a particular interest in how macrophages encourage breast cancers to become invasive. Two additional projects have developed from this core project: 1) characterisation of a new marker to better identify tumour-associated macrophages in human breast cancer, and 2) development of a drug that targets migratory tumour-associated macrophages to reduce cancer growth and block its spread.
General:
Research:
Teaching:
Expertise - macrophage biology, cancer biology, cell motility and invasion, breast cancer, optical and super resolution microscopy.
Overview - macrophages are found in every tissue and play an important role in tissue development and homeostasis. They also contribute to the progression of a number of diseases, including cancer. In particular, tumour associated macrophages encourage tumour invasion and metastasis by activating cancer cell motility and then by digging tunnels for cancer cells to move through tissue barriers. Examination of macrophage-specific motility and invasion proteins will help to identify potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of cancer. Dr Pixley’s laboratory is focused on the role of CSF-1 receptor signalling and tyrosine phosphorylation in the activation of downstream signal transduction pathways that regulate macrophage adhesion, motility and matrix degradation. Compared with more commonly studied yet less motile cell types such as fibroblasts, motility is regulated quite differently in the professionally motile macrophage. A broad range of microscopic and biochemical techniques is employed in the laboratory to dissect the mechanisms by which CSF-1 receptor tyrosine phosphorylation activates specific downstream signalling pathways to stimulate macrophage motility. Dr Pixley also collaborates extensively to investigate the role of other tyrosine phosphorylated proteins, such as FAK, Pyk2, paxillin and leupaxin, which are important in the regulation of macrophage differentiation, adhesion and motility.
Funding (CIA):
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Director of the Board, Western Australian Institute of Sport
1 Jun 2018 → 27 Sept 2023
Director of the Board, Water Polo Western Australia Inc.
1 Oct 2014 → 30 Apr 2018
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Murrey, M. (Creator), Steer, J. (Creator), Greenland, E. (Creator), Proudfoot, J. (Creator), Joyce, D. (Creator) & Pixley, F. (Creator), Gene Expression Omnibus (NCBI), 19 Feb 2020
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSM4318396
Dataset
Murrey, M. (Creator), Steer, J. (Creator), Greenland, E. (Creator), Proudfoot, J. (Creator), Joyce, D. (Creator) & Pixley, F. (Creator), Gene Expression Omnibus (NCBI), 19 Feb 2020
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSM4318400
Dataset
Murrey, M. (Creator), Steer, J. (Creator), Greenland, E. (Creator), Proudfoot, J. (Creator), Joyce, D. (Creator) & Pixley, F. (Creator), Gene Expression Omnibus (NCBI), 19 Feb 2020
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSM4318397
Dataset
Murrey, M. (Creator), Steer, J. (Creator), Greenland, E. (Creator), Proudfoot, J. (Creator), Joyce, D. (Creator) & Pixley, F. (Creator), Gene Expression Omnibus (NCBI), 19 Feb 2020
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSM4318398
Dataset
Murrey, M. (Creator), Steer, J. (Creator), Greenland, E. (Creator), Proudfoot, J. (Creator), Joyce, D. (Creator) & Pixley, F. (Creator), Gene Expression Omnibus (NCBI), 19 Feb 2020
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSM4318388
Dataset
Barnett, T. (CoPI), Blancafort, P. (CoPI), Chen, K. (CoPI), Chooi, H. (CoPI), Hamzah, J. (CoPI), Hirvonen, L. (CoPI), Ingley, E. (CoPI), Johnstone, L. (CoPI), Kahler, C. (CoPI), Keelan, J. (CoPI), Kular, J. (CoPI), Mullin, B. (CoPI), Nicol, M. (CoPI), Pixley, F. (CoPI), Swaminatha Iyer, I. (CoPI), Waithman, J. (CoPI), Wilson, S. (CoPI) & Woodward, E. (CoPI)
The University of Western Australia
1/01/25 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
Pixley, F. (Investigator 01), Ernst, M. (Investigator 02), Poh, A. (Investigator 03), Lau, P. (Investigator 04) & Dabner, M. (Investigator 05)
1/01/23 → 31/12/24
Project: Research
Pixley, F. (Investigator 01), Ellies, L. (Investigator 02) & Nelson, D. (Investigator 03)
1/01/20 → 30/06/22
Project: Research
Ganss, R. (Investigator 01), Laing, N. (Investigator 02), Filipovska, A. (Investigator 03), Lister, R. (Investigator 04), Forrest, A. (Investigator 05), Leedman, P. (Investigator 06), Yeoh, G. (Investigator 07), Keelan, J. (Investigator 08), Nowak, A. (Investigator 09), Xu, J. (Investigator 10), Blancafort, P. (Investigator 11), Trinder, D. (Investigator 12), Pavlos, N. (Investigator 13), Ravenscroft, G. (Investigator 14), Hamzah, J. (Investigator 15), Juan Pardo, E. (Investigator 16), Winteringham, L. (Investigator 17), Kennedy, B. (Investigator 18), Pixley, F. (Investigator 19) & Redwood, A. (Investigator 20)
NHMRC National Health and Medical Research Council
1/01/20 → 31/12/20
Project: Research
Pixley, F. (Investigator 01), Ellies, L. (Investigator 02) & Rinaldi, C. (Investigator 03)
The University of Western Australia
1/01/20 → 30/04/22
Project: Research