Dr Brooke Pereira

Dr Brooke Pereira completed her PhD at Monash University under the supervision of Professor Gail Risbridger in early 2019. During her candidature she studied tumour-stroma interactions in prostate cancer using tissue engineering and quantitative proteomics. Brooke is now a Senior Post-doctoral Research Officer and Cancer Institute NSW Fellow in the Cancer Invasion & Metastasis Laboratory Group, headed by Professor Paul Timpson.

Dr. Pereira uses a range of cutting-edge approaches such as proteomics, genomics, patient-derived xenografts (PDX), spatial proteomics (mass spectrometry imaging), spatial transcriptomics and intravital (in vivo) imaging to investigate new and current anti-tumour agents in pancreatic cancer. Dr Pereira is a founding Executive member of the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Matrix Atlas (APMA; www.pancreaticcancer.net.au/apma/), a global resource for fibrotic-rich pancreatic cancer specimens within the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genomic Initiative (APGI). She holds a Conjoint Lecturer position with UNSW since 2019 and currently supervises 3x PhD students: Katie Gordon (2023-, Tour de Cure Scholarship), Jessie Zhu (2022-, SPHERE UNSW Scholarship) & Antonia Cadell (2021-, PanCare Scholarship), with 1x PhD to completion (Shona Ritchie, 2020-24, International UNSW Scholarship).

Dr Pereira has published 31+ papers spanning cancer biology, proteomics and imaging and has been funded by National Tier funding bodies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Cancer Institute NSW, Cancer Council and Pankind. Her published work has resulted in several significant findings regarding (a) co-targeting strategies, (b) tumour microenvironment interactions, & (c) signalling networks during pancreatic cancer spread.