Miss Julia Leeflang
Higher Degree by Research Candidate
School of Medicine
College of Health
Julia Leeflang is a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide, working in the Gut Cancer Group led by A/Prof. Susan Woods. Julia’s research focuses on assessing the intratumoural evolution of a tumour-homing strain of bacteria, E. coli Nissle 1917, and genetically engineering these bacteria to produce anti-cancer agents and release them directly to tumours. The goal is to provide insight into why these bacteria exhibit tumour-homing behaviours, and how to improve such tumour-homing for the development of live bacterial therapeutics for the treatment of colorectal cancer.
| Date | Type | Title | Institution Name | Country | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Scholarship | Tour de Cure PhD Scholarship | Tour de Cure | Australia | - |
| 2026 | Award | AusHealth CureCell Award | AusHealth | Australia | - |
| 2025 | Achievement | Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Finalist | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2023 | Achievement | SAHMRI Annual Research Showcase Poster Presentation Finalist | SAHMRI | Australia | - |
| 2023 | Award | University of Adelaide Florey Postgraduate Research Conference Poster Presentation Award | University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2022 | Award | Faculty of Sciences Outstanding Academic Achievement Award | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2022 | Award | Sir Ronald Fisher Prize for Genetics III | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2022 | Award | School of Biological Sciences Prize in Level 3 Biochemistry | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2022 | Achievement | Adelaide Graduate Award | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2022 | Scholarship | The University of Adelaide Research Scholarship | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2021 | Award | Faculty of Sciences Outstanding Academic Achievement Award | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2021 | Award | Sir Ronald Fisher Prize for Genetics II | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2021 | Award | School of Biological Sciences Prize in Level 2 Biochemistry | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2020 | Invitation | Invitation to become a member of The Golden Key International Honor Society | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2020 | Award | Faculty of Sciences Outstanding Academic Achievement Award | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2020 | Scholarship | Access Adelaide Scholarship | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2020 | Scholarship | The Alexander Saint Scholarship in Science | The University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 - 2022 | The University of Adelaide | Australia | Bachelor of Science (Advanced) |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Syphers, J. L., Wright, J. A., de Nys, R., Silva, T. N., Vrbanac, L., Barratt, K. R., . . . Baell, J. B. (2026). Discovery of APO-50815, a potent WEE1 kinase inhibitor with exceptional efficacy against patient-derived colorectal cancer organoids.. European journal of medicinal chemistry, 312, 118838. |
| 2025 | Raeisi, H., Leeflang, J., Hasan, S., & Woods, S. L. (2025). Bioengineered Probiotics for Clostridioides difficile Infection: An Overview of the Challenges and Potential for This New Treatment Approach. Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins, 17(2), 763-780. Scopus4 WoS3 Europe PMC2 |
| 2025 | Leeflang, J., Wright, J. A., Worthley, D. L., Din, M. O., & Woods, S. L. (2025). Evolutionary adaptation of probiotics in the gut: selection pressures, optimization strategies, and regulatory challenges. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 11(1), 96-1-96-8. Scopus9 WoS7 Europe PMC3 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2024 | De Nys, R., De Lima, T. M., Hasan, S., Leeflang, J., Barratt, K., Radford, G., . . . Woods, S. (2024). Investigating the role of E. coli Nissle biofilm formation in colorectal cancer tumour colonisation. In JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY Vol. 39 (pp. 30-31). WILEY. |
| Date | Role | Committee | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Treasurer | SAHMRI Student Association Committee | SAHMRI | Australia |
| 2025 - ongoing | Member | Australian Society for Medical Research Committee | Australian Society for Medical Research | Australia |
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