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About Us

Martin Sadowski

Martin Sadowski

Positions

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • Institute of Pathology, University of Bern

Contact Details

Qualifications

  • PhD Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland, 2002
  • MBiol. (1st), Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Germany, 1998

Biography

In 2010, after 10 months of paternity leave, Dr. Sadowski joined the Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre – Queensland. Over the past 18 years of lab work, Dr. Sadowski has acquired a strong expertise in a broad range of techniques of molecular biology, tissue culture, assay development, prostate cancer biology and drug discovery. His research projects investigate cancer cell proliferation and metabolism with a focus on hormone-regulated pathways of lipid metabolism, mitochondrial function and cell cycle progression. His recent work in drug discovery and prostate cancer biology contributed to 9 co-authored publications that describe the isolation and mechanism of action studies for novel natural compounds and synthetic agents, targeting topoisomerase, microtubule polymerisation, amino acid transport and fatty acid synthesis.

During his master’s degree and PhD studies, Dr. Sadowski worked on RNA binding proteins and their role in mRNA 3’-end processing. His work described the functional relationship of transcription termination and polyadenylation, leading to four highly cited publications in EMBO (2), JBC and Nucleic Acid Research and a postdoctoral fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG). His postdoctoral research in the Cancer Program at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney and St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne investigated the role of protein phosphorylation and ubiquitination in cell cycle progression, demonstrating the existence of a sequence-specific mechanism with which E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes select target lysines for ubiquitination. More importantly, it unveiled key amino acids in the catalytic core of the E2 enzyme that determine via compatibility with the target lysine sequence the mode of substrate ubiquitination: mono- or polyubiquitination, concluding in publications in MCB, JBC, Dev. Biol and Biochem J and three reviews..

Awards and grants

Awards

2015

Winner of the Presidential Poster Competition, 97th Annual Endocrinology Meeting, March 2015, San Diego, USA

 

2003-2004

Postdoctoral research fellowship, German Research Foundation

Grants

2014-2017

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Movember Revolutionary Team Award

Adaptive Response to Targeting the Androgen Axis – A Strategic Offensive on Resistance

Nelson, Williams, Gunter, B Hollier, O'Leary, Lehman, Chopin, Hutmacher, Holst, Herington, Clements, Dinger
Vela,  Quinn,  Sadowski

2014-2015

Princess Alexandra Research Foundation: It's A Bloke's Thing Prostate Cancer Research Grant

Targeting leptin in prostate cancer progression; linking metabolic dysfunction and castrate resistance.

Nelson, Williams, Hollier, Gunter, Sadowski, Otvos, O’Leary

 

2013-2017

Griffith University International

Postgraduate Scholarship Phytochemical and biological investigations of cytotoxic compounds from Australian endemic plants

Levrier (Supervisors: Davis, Nelson, Sadowski)

Research interests

regulation of cell cycle progression, RNA processing, post-translational protein modification (phosphorylation and ubiquitination)

Top publications