Dr Katherine Morel
Postdoctoral Researcher - SAiGENCI
South Australian Immunogenomics Cancer Institute
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Dr. Katherine Morel is a Research Fellow in the South Australian Immunogenomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI) at the University of Adelaide. in 2017, Dr. Morel was awarded her PhD from Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia. Her doctoral research was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Pamela Sykes and focused on investigating the use of the anti-inflammatory compound parthenolide in the treatment and prevention of prostate cancer. Following the completion of her PhD studies, Dr. Morel continued her training as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. At DFCI, Dr. Morel's research interests focused on genetic drivers of aggressive prostate cancer and identifying and utilising novel therapeutic approaches to target these genetic perturbations. This research utilised unique GEM and 3D organoid models of prostate cancer together with the latest techniques in genomics and proteomics. In 2022, Dr. Morel returned to Adelaide to continue her research into prostate cancer at the University of Adelaide.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2018 - 2021 Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2013 - 2017 Flinders University Australia PhD 2011 - 2011 Flinders University Australia BSc (Hons) 2007 - 2010 Flinders University Australia BMSc -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2024 German, B., Alaiwi, S. A., Ho, K. -L., Nanda, J. S., S Fonseca, M. A., Burkhart, D. L., . . . Ellis, L. (2024). MYBL2 Drives Prostate Cancer Plasticity: Inhibiting its Transcriptional Target CDK2 for RB1-Deficient Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer.. Cancer Res Commun, 4(9), 2295-2307.
Scopus3 Europe PMC32024 Morel, K. L., Germán, B., Hamid, A. A., Nanda, J. S., Linder, S., Bergman, A. M., . . . Ellis, L. (2024). Low tristetraprolin expression activates phenotypic plasticity and primes transition to lethal prostate cancer in mice.. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 135(2), e175680-1-e175680-18.
2024 German, B., Singh, J. N., Fonseca, M. A., Burkhart, D. L., Sheahan, A., Bergom, H., . . . Ellis, L. (2024). MYBL2 drives prostate cancer plasticity and identifies CDK2 as a therapeutic vulnerability in RB1-loss and neuroendocrine prostate cancer.. bioRxiv.
2021 Morel, K. L., Sheahan, A. V., Burkhart, D. L., Baca, S. C., Boufaied, N., Liu, Y., . . . Ellis, L. (2021). EZH2 inhibition activates a dsRNA–STING–interferon stress axis that potentiates response to PD-1 checkpoint blockade in prostate cancer. Nature Cancer, 2(4), 444-456.
Scopus163 WoS90 Europe PMC1392021 Morel, K. L., Hamid, A. A., Clohessy, J. G., Pandell, N., Ellis, L., & Sweeney, C. J. (2021). NF-κB blockade with oral administration of dimethylaminoparthenolide, delays prostate cancer resistance to androgen receptor inhibition and inhibits AR variants. Mol Cancer Res, 19(7), 1137-1145.
Scopus14 WoS5 Europe PMC132020 Burkhart, D. L., Morel, K. L., Wadosky, K. M., Labbe, D. P., Galbo, P. M., Dalimov, Z., . . . Ellis, L. (2020). Evidence that EZH2 deregulation is an actionable therapeutic target for prevention of prostate cancer. Cancer Prevention Research, 13(12), 979-988.
Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC42020 VanDeusen, H. R., Ramroop, J. R., Morel, K. L., Bae, S. Y., Sheahan, A. V., Sychev, Z., . . . Drake, J. M. (2020). Targeting RET kinase in neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Molecular Cancer Research, 18(8), 1176-1188.
Scopus33 WoS17 Europe PMC282019 Tran, L. N. K., Kichenadasse, G., Morel, K. L., Lavranos, T. C., Klebe, S., Lower, K. M., . . . Sykes, P. J. (2019). The combination of metformin and valproic acid has a greater anti-tumoral effect on prostate cancer growth in vivo than either drug alone. In Vivo, 33(1), 99-108.
Scopus13 Europe PMC92019 Morel, K. L., Ormsby, R. J., Klebe, S., Sweeney, C. J., & Sykes, P. J. (2019). DMAPT is an Effective Radioprotector from Long-Term Radiation-Induced Damage to Normal Mouse Tissues In Vivo. Radiation research, 192(2), 231-239.
Scopus9 WoS5 Europe PMC62018 Morel, K. L., Ormsby, R. J., Solly, E. L., Tran, L. N. K., Sweeney, C. J., Klebe, S., . . . Sykes, P. J. (2018). Chronic low dose ethanol induces an aggressive metastatic phenotype in TRAMP mice, which is counteracted by parthenolide. Clinical and Experimental Metastasis, 35(7), 649-661.
Scopus8 WoS6 Europe PMC52017 Morel, K. L., Ormsby, R. J., Bezak, E., Sweeney, C. J., & Sykes, P. J. (2017). Parthenolide Selectively Sensitizes Prostate Tumor Tissue to Radiotherapy while Protecting Healthy Tissues in Vivo. Radiation Research, 187(5), 501-512.
Scopus34 WoS27 Europe PMC262017 Tran, L. N., Kichenadasse, G., Butler, L. M., Centenera, M. M., Morel, K. L., Ormsby, R. J., . . . Sykes, P. J. (2017). The combination of metformin and valproic acid induces synergistic apoptosis in the presence of p53 and androgen signaling in prostate cancer. Molecular cancer therapeutics, 16(12), 2689-2700.
Scopus27 WoS22 Europe PMC162014 Newman, M., Sykes, P., Blyth, B., Bezak, E., Lawrence, M., Morel, K., & Ormsby, R. (2014). A single whole-body low dose X-irradiation does not affect L1, B1 and IAP repeat element DNA methylation longitudinally. PLoS One, 9(3), e93016-1-e93016-10.
Scopus13 WoS11 Europe PMC112014 Newman, M., Sykes, P., Blyth, B., Bezak, E., Lawrence, M., Morel, K., & Ormsby, R. (2014). The methylation of DNA repeat elements is sex-dependent and temporally different in response to X radiation in radiosensitive and radioresistant mouse strains. Radiation Research, 181(1), 65-75.
Scopus21 WoS17 Europe PMC18 -
Book Chapters
Year Citation 2019 Burkhart, D. L., Morel, K. L., Sheahan, A. V., Richards, Z. A., & Ellis, L. (2019). The Role of RB in Prostate Cancer Progression. In S. M. Dehm, & D. J. Tindall (Eds.), Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology (Vol. 1210, pp. 301-318). SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG.
DOI Scopus18 WoS10 Europe PMC11 -
Conference Papers
Year Citation 2019 Hamid, A., Werner, L., Huang, Y., Vicier, C., Morel, K., Ellis, L., & Sweeney, C. (2019). Prognostic impact of tristetraprolin (TTP) and PTEN loss and assessment of associated immune infiltrates in localized prostate cancer (PrCa).. In JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY Vol. 37 (pp. 2 pages). Chicago, IL: AMER SOC CLINICAL ONCOLOGY.
DOI2017 Tran, L. N. K., Kichenadasse, G., Ormsby, R. J., Morel, K. L., Butler, L. M., Centenera, M. M., & Sykes, P. J. (2017). COMBINATION OF METFORMIN AND SODIUM VALPROATE FOR PROSTATE CANCER: A RAPID APPROACH FROM BENCH TO CLINICAL TRIAL.. In JOURNAL OF UROLOGY Vol. 197 (pp. E1108-E1109). Boston, MA: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC.
DOI2017 Morel, K. L., Sykes, P. J., Gokhale, P. C., Lee, G. -S. M., Tiv, H., & Sweeney, C. J. (2017). Dimethylaminoparthenolide (DMAPT), an oral nuclear factor kappa B inhibitor (NFκB), enhances radiation therapy and enhances epidermal growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR TKI) activity. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 77 (pp. 2 pages). DC, Washington: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
DOI2016 Tran, L. N. K., Kichenadasse, G., Morel, K. L., Ormsby, R. J., Butler, L. M., Centenera, M. M., & Sykes, P. J. (2016). Combination of metformin and valproic acid in personalized prostate cancer treatment: the role of p53 and androgen receptor signaling. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 76 (pp. 4 pages). New Orleans, LA: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. 2013 Morel, K., Ormsby, R., Bezak, E., Tilley, W., Lawrence, M., & Sykes, P. (2013). Parthenolide as a selective radiosensitiser in the treatment and prevention of prostate cancer. In BJU International Vol. 112 (pp. 45). Melbourne: Wiley. -
Conference Items
Year Citation 2022 Sweeney, C. J., Morel, K., Hamid, A., & Ellis, L. (2022). Combined loss of tristetraprolin (TTP) and PTEN leads to aggressive prostate cancer and hypersensitivity to nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB) inhibition.. Poster session presented at the meeting of CANCER RESEARCH. LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. 2022 Sweeney, C. J., Morel, K., Hamid, A., & Ellis, L. (2022). Combined loss of tristetraprolin (TTP) and PTEN leads to aggressive prostate cancer and hypersensitivity to nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB) inhibition. Poster session presented at the meeting of CANCER RESEARCH. LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. -
Preprint
Year Citation 2025 Williams, C. M. D., Morel, K. L., Kumorkiewicz-Jamro, A., Johnstone, D. P., Le, H. V., Sweeney, C. J., & Wardill, H. R. (2025). Radioprotective effects of parthenolide lotion against skin injury caused by radiation (REPAIR-1): protocol for a phase 0, non-randomised, double-blind, interventional pilot study.
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CURRENT FELLOWSHIPS
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Prostate Cancer Foundation (US) Young Investigator Award. Morel KL. Modulation of oxidative stress responses to augment prostate cancer radiation therapy. 2024-2026. $346,707
PREVIOUS FELLOWSHIPS
- US Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program Early Investigator Research Award. Morel KL. Targeting EZH2 for Novel Combination Therapeutic Strategies in Aggressive Variant Prostate Cancer. 2019-2021. $USD 200,000.
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