Marie recognised the important role of the extracellular matrix in cell signalling and spent many years studying the composition of the extracellular matrix and cellular responses to matrix components. Her research at the Max Planck Institute pioneered the structural characterisation of nidogen as a basement membrane component and the role of laminin-nidogen interactions in basement membrane assembly. Marie became intrigued with the process of genomic imprinting after Igf2 was the first imprinted gene to be identified in 1991, and subsequently attempted to discover genes within imprinted clusters that played a role in embryonic and tumour growth and development. This led to the identification of the STIM family of proteins, which have been recently shown to play a critical role in regulating calcium entry into cells. Marie is now investigating whether the establishment of genomic imprinting during mammalian embryonic development is influenced by the nutritional status of the mother during pregnancy. She is particularly interested in determining whether there is an epigenetic basis to early life programming of adult health and disease resulting from maternal undernutrition and maternal methyl donor deficiency.

In addition to her research activities in epigenetics, Marie is using her broad knowledge and skills to translate basic research into the development of cancer therapeutics. She has been appointed Research Director of the Cancer Development Laboratory , which aims to undertake the early development work needed to identify which of the molecular targets discovered by the Cancer Research Program hold promise for cancer drug discovery.

Education

1978 D.Phil (Oxon), Department of Zoology, Oxford University, UK
1974 BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia

Awards and Honours

1984-85 Max Planck Fellowship
1983 Alexander von Humboldt Senior Fellowship
1982 European Molecular Biology Organization long-term Fellowship
1981 University of Calgary Postdoctoral Fellowship
1977 Short-term exchange (3 month) scholarship from the British Council and Polish government for research at the University of Warsaw, Poland
1975-78 Flinders University Overseas Scholarship for graduate studies at Oxford University
1974 Flinders University Medal, awarded for BSc(Hons)

Postdoctoral positions

1982 - 1985 Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry, Munich, West Germany
1981 Oncology Research Group at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1979 - 1981 Division of Biology, Kansas State University, USA

Senior Positions

2005 – present Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney   
2003 – 2005 Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand
2001 – 2003 Associate Professor and Associate Director, Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand
2000 – 2001 Associate Professor and Reader, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne
1996 – 1999 Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne
1987- 1995 Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Reproduction and Development, Monash University, Head of Developmental Biology Research Group
1985 – 1987 Senior Scientist, Murdoch Institute for Research into Birth Defects, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. Head of Embryology research group

Publications

Dziadek MA, Johnstone LS. Biochemical properties and cellular localization of STIM proteins. Cell Calcium 2007; 42; 123-132

Soboloff J, Spassova MA, Hewavitharana T, He L-P, Xu W, Johnstone LS, Dziadek MA, Gill DL. STIM1-STIM2 interactions in the control of store-operated Ca2+ entry. Curr Biol 2006; 16: 1465-1470

Spassova MA, Soboloff J, He LP, Xu W, Dziadek MA, Gill DL. STIM1 has a plasma membrane role in the activation of store-operated Ca(2+) channels. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2006; 103(11):4040-5.

Dziadek M. Genomic imprinting and epigenetic programming of fetal development: In: Perinatal Programming: Early Life Determinants of Adult Health and Disease (Eds DM Hodgson and C Coe). Taylor and Francis Medical Books, London. 2005

Williams RT, Manji SS, Parker NJ, Hancock MS, Van Stekelenburg L, Eid JP, Senior PV, Kazenwadel JS, Shandala T, Saint R, Smith PJ, Dziadek MA. Identification and characterization of the STIM (stromal interaction molecule) gene family: coding for a novel class of transmembrane proteins. Biochem J 2001; 357(Pt 3):673-85.

Mollard R, Dziadek M. A correlation between epithelial proliferation rates, basement membrane component localization patterns, and morphogenetic potential in the embryonic mouse lung. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 1998; 19(1):71-82.

Overall M, Bakker M, Spencer J, Parker N, Smith P, Dziadek M. Genomic imprinting in the rat: linkage of Igf2 and H19 genes and opposite parental allele-specific expression during embryogenesis. Genomics 1997; 45(2):416-20.

Stadler E, Dziadek M. Extracellular matrix penetration by epithelial cells is influenced by quantitative changes in basement membrane components and growth factors. Exp Cell Res 1996; 229(2):360-9.

Thomas T, Dziadek M. Expression of collagen alpha 1(IV), laminin and nidogen genes in the embryonic mouse lung: implications for branching morphogenesis. Mech Dev 1994; 45(3):193-201.

Dziadek M, Paulsson M, Timpl R. Identification and interaction repertoire of large forms of the basement membrane protein nidogen. Embo J 1985; 4(10):2513-8.

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