Khatora Opperman
School of Biomedicine
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Doctor of Philosophy (Medical Sciences) Candidate currently working within the Multiple Myeloma Research Laboratory at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). Investigating the role of bone marrow resident macrophages in the progression of the hematological malignancy multiple myeloma.
- My Research
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Ms Khatora Opperman is a final year PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide, working within Professor Andrew Zannettino’s Myeloma Research Laboratory at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). In 2015, Khatora graduated with an Advanced Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Adelaide, finishing within the top 10% of all students. Throughout this time Khatora became very interested in the molecular mechanisms that underpin cancer cell biology. Khatora subsequently joined the Myeloma Research Laboratory where she received a first-class honours degree for a thesis examining the cellular composition of the myeloma niche. Khatora commenced her PhD candidature in 2017 and has made significant strides in her research studies investigating the role of the bone marrow microenvironment in multiple myeloma pathogenesis.
To date, Khatora’s research has led to an exciting and novel discovery revealing a critical role for bone marrow macrophages in the early stages of myeloma development, unveiling potential therapeutic avenues. This work has been published in the journal, Neoplasia. Khatora has also received numerous prestigious awards and scholarships for her work and has been selected to present her work at over 10 national and international conferences.
Currently, Khatora is performing in depth macrophage subtype analysis within human myeloma patient samples to determine the clinical translation of her work. In addition, to her own research studies Khatora has fostered productive collaborations with leaders in the field within SAHMRI and at the Garvan Institute. During her candidature, Khatora has designed several multi-colour flow cytometric panels, established a new animal model in the laboratory and has co-supervised an Honours student who finished with first-class. Khatora has served on several local and State committees, including Deputy convenor of the Australian Society for Medical Research Committee. Besides her research, Khatora is enthusiastic about education, demonstrating, tutoring and lecturing for several undergraduate courses at the University of Adelaide and Uni SA. As a passionate and highly motivated medical researcher, Khatora’s goal is to develop new therapeutic strategies to palpably improve the quality-of-life and survivorship of individuals with myeloma and other cancers.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2019 - 2019 Lecturer University of Adelaide 2018 - 2019 Tutor University of South Australia 2017 - ongoing Tutor and Demonstrator University of Adelaide 2016 - 2017 Research Assistant SAHMRI -
Awards and Achievements
Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount 2019 Scholarship Cancer Council SA Beat Cancer Project Travel Grant Cancer Council SA Australia - 2019 Scholarship Graduate Women SA Centenary Scholarship The Australian Federation for University Women South Australia Australia - 2019 Scholarship Adelaide Medical School Research Travel Award University of Adelaide Australia - 2019 Scholarship ESH International Scholarship Fund European School of Haematology United Kingdom - 2018 Award Executive Dean to the Faculty of Health and Medical Research Prize University of Adelaide Australia - 2018 Award Florey Medical Research Foundation Prize University of Adelaide Australia - 2018 Award Laurence Catley Memorial Award Myeloma Australia Australia - 2017 Scholarship Jemima Lendrum Honours Grant for Cancer Research University of Adelaide Australia - 2017 Invitation European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Australia PhD Course European Molecular Biology Laboratory Australia - 2016 Scholarship Cancer Research Scholarship University of Adelaide Australia - 2015 Achievement Outstanding Academic Achievement Award University of Adelaide Australia - 2013 Scholarship Wyndham Richardson Trust Scholarship University of Adelaide Australia - -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2017 University of Adelaide Australia Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2016 - 2016 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Health Science (First Class Honours) 2013 - 2015 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Science (Advanced), Majors in Biochemistry and Genetics -
Postgraduate Training
Date Title Institution Country 2017 PhD Candidate University of Adelaide Australia
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Journals
Year Citation 2021 Opperman, K. S., Vandyke, K., Psaltis, P. J., Noll, J. E., & Zannettino, A. C. W. (2021). Macrophages in multiple myeloma: key roles and therapeutic strategies. Cancer and Metastasis Reviews, 40(1), 273-284.
Scopus7 WoS7 Europe PMC72021 Millard, S. M., Heng, O., Opperman, K. S., Sehgal, A., Irvine, K. M., Kaur, S., . . . Pettit, A. R. (2021). Fragmentation of tissue-resident macrophages during isolation confounds analysis of single-cell preparations from mouse hematopoietic tissues. Cell Reports, 37(8), 110058-1-110058-23.
Scopus10 WoS8 Europe PMC72020 Friend, N., Noll, J. E., Opperman, K. S., Clark, K. C., Mrozik, K. M., Vandyke, K., . . . Zannettino, A. C. W. (2020). GLIPR1 expression is reduced in multiple myeloma but is not a tumour suppressor in mice.. PLoS One, 15(1), e0228408.
WoS2 Europe PMC12020 Friend, N., Noll, J. E., Opperman, K. S., Clark, K. C., Mrozik, K. M., Vandyke, K., . . . Zannettino, A. C. W. (2020). GLIPR1 expression is reduced in multiple myeloma but is not a tumour suppressor in mice. PLoS ONE, 15(1), e0228423.
Scopus22020 Mrozik, K. M., Cheong, C. M., Hewett, D. R., Noll, J. E., Opperman, K. S., Adwal, A., . . . Zannettino, A. C. W. (2020). LCRF-0006, a small molecule mimetic of the N-cadherin antagonist peptide ADH-1, synergistically increases multiple myeloma response to bortezomib.. FASEB Bioadv, 2(6), 339-353.
Scopus2 Europe PMC32020 Clark, K. C., Hewett, D. R., Panagopoulos, V., Plakhova, N., Opperman, K. S., Bradey, A. L., . . . Zannettino, A. C. W. (2020). Targeted disruption of bone marrow stromal cell-derived Gremlin1 limits multiple myeloma disease progression in vivo. Cancers, 12(8), 2149-1-2149-20.
Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC12019 Khoo, W., Ledergor, G., Weiner, A., Roden, D., Terry, R., McDonald, M., . . . Croucher, P. (2019). A niche-dependent myeloid transcriptome signature defines dormant myeloma cells. Blood, 134(1), 30-43.
Scopus67 WoS64 Europe PMC512019 Opperman, K. S., Vandyke, K., Clark, K. C., Coulter, E. A., Hewett, D. R., Mrozik, K. M., . . . Zannettino, A. C. (2019). Clodronate-liposome mediated macrophage depletion abrogates multiple myeloma tumor establishment in vivo. Neoplasia, 21(8), 777-787.
Scopus37 WoS36 Europe PMC30- Millard, S. M., Heng, O., Opperman, K. S., Sehgal, A., Irvine, K. M., Kaur, S., . . . Pettit, A. R. (n.d.). Fragmentation of macrophages during isolation confounds analysis of single cell preparations from mouse hematopoietic tissues.
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Conference Items
Year Citation 2019 Opperman, K., Vandyke, K., Psaltis, P., Croucher, P., Noll, J., & Zannettino, A. (2019). Macrophages as a potential therapeutic target: Clodronate-liposome treatment inhibits multiple myeloma tumour establishment in vivo. Poster session presented at the meeting of CLINICAL LYMPHOMA MYELOMA & LEUKEMIA. CIG MEDIA GROUP, LP.
Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend
Lecturer, University of Adelaide, Mar 2019 - Jul 2019
Tutor, University of Adelaide, Mar 2017 - present
Demonstrator, University of Adelaide, Mar 2017 - Jul 2018
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Other Supervision Activities
Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name 2018 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Investigating a role for the chemokine receptor, CX3CR1, in multiple myeloma disease development University of Adelaide - Honours Full Time Miss Elizabeth Coulter
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Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2019 - ongoing Secretary Australian Society of Medical Research South Australia State Committee Australian Society of Medical Research Australia 2017 - ongoing Member EMBL Australia Postgraduate Symposium European Molecular Biology Laboratory Australia 2017 - 2018 President SAHMRI Student Association SAHMRI Australia -
Memberships
Date Role Membership Country 2017 - ongoing Member Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) - 2014 - ongoing - Golden Key International Honours Society - -
Community Engagement
Date Title Engagement Type Institution Country 2019 - ongoing Multiple Myeloma Patient Tour Public Community Engagement Myeloma Foundation Australia - 2019 - ongoing Biggest Morning Tea Scientific Community Engagement Cancer Council SA - 2018 - ongoing SAHMRI Student Open Night Scientific Community Engagement South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute - 2017 - ongoing SAHMRI Building Tour Public Community Engagement South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute -
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