Theodosia Teo

Dr Theodosia Teo

Research Associate

School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science

College of Health

Available For Media Comment.

Theo received her Ph.D. in cancer biology at the University of South Australia in 2015 where she worked in the laboratory of Prof. Shudong Wang studying the therapeutic potential of a protein target in cancer. During her Ph.D., she managed to extend her skills by deploying a multidisciplinary approach comprising computational structural biology, biochemical and cell biology, to facilitate her research analysis. Theo continued to pursue her research as a postdoctoral research associate in the same group upon the completion of her Ph.D. for a year. After that, she spent 2.5 years working in the industry with Intertek Agricultural company, where she was able to operate a series of high throughput SNPline PCR genotyping system to help farmers in selecting the desired markers for the plant breeding program. She is also experienced in producing data in the application for NATA accreditation. Theo is currently engaging in several drug discovery projects under the guidance of Prof. Shudong Wang. 

Year Citation
2025 Mekonnen, L. B., Teo, T., Noll, B., Rahaman, M. H., Lenjisa, J., Basnet, S., . . . Wang, S. (2025). A brain-penetrant CDK4/6 inhibitor - AU3-14 shows robust anti-tumor efficacy against glioblastoma.. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie, 189(118340), 118340.
DOI Europe PMC1
2023 Fanta, B. S., Lenjisa, J., Teo, T., Kou, L., Mekonnen, L., Yang, Y., . . . Wang, S. (2023). Discovery of N,4-Di(1H-pyrazol-4-yl)pyrimidin-2-amine-Derived CDK2 Inhibitors as Potential Anticancer Agents: Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation. Molecules, 28(7), 2951.
DOI Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC4
2023 Fanta, B. S., Mekonnen, L., Basnet, S. K. C., Teo, T., Lenjisa, J., Khair, N. Z., . . . Wang, S. (2023). 2-Anilino-4-(1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)pyrimidine-derived CDK2 inhibitors as anticancer agents: Design, synthesis & evaluation. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 80(117158), 117158.
DOI Scopus15 WoS15 Europe PMC10
2022 Chen, R., Hassankhani, R., Long, Y., Basnet, S. K. C., Teo, T., Yang, Y., . . . Wang, S. (2022). Discovery of Potent Inhibitors of Cyclin-Dependent Kinases 7 and 9: Design, Synthesis, Structure-Activity Relationship Analysis and Biological Evaluation. Chemmedchem, 18(3), e202200582.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC5
2022 Islam, S., Teo, T., Kumarasiri, M., Slater, M., Martin, J. H., Wang, S., & Head, R. (2022). Combined In Silico and In Vitro Evidence Supporting an Aurora A Kinase Inhibitory Role of the Anti-Viral Drug Rilpivirine and an Anti-Proliferative Influence on Cancer Cells. Pharmaceuticals, 15(10), 16 pages.
DOI Scopus6 WoS6 Europe PMC6
2022 Teo, T., Kasirzadeh, S., Albrecht, H., Sykes, M. J., Yang, Y., & Wang, S. (2022). An overview of CDK3 in cancer: clinical significance and pharmacological implications. Pharmacological Research, 180, 16 pages.
DOI Scopus12 WoS11 Europe PMC11
2021 Yu, M., Long, Y., Yang, Y., Li, M., Teo, T., Noll, B., . . . Wang, S. (2021). Discovery of a potent, highly selective, and orally bioavailable inhibitor of CDK8 through a structure-based optimisation. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 218(113391), 23 pages.
DOI Scopus9 WoS8 Europe PMC8
2021 Yu, M., Teo, T., Yang, Y., Li, M., Long, Y., Philip, S., . . . Wang, S. (2021). Potent and orally bioavailable CDK8 inhibitors: design, synthesis, structure-activity relationship analysis and biological evaluation. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 214, 1-22.
DOI Scopus14 WoS13 Europe PMC11
2020 Emadi, F., Teo, T., Rahaman, M. H., & Wang, S. (2020). CDK12: a potential therapeutic target in cancer. Drug Discovery Today, 25(12), 2257-2267.
DOI Scopus29 WoS29 Europe PMC24
2019 Rahaman, M. H., Lam, F., Zhong, L., Teo, T., Adams, J., Yu, M., . . . Wang, S. (2019). Targeting CDK9 for treatment of colorectal cancer. Molecular Oncology, 13(10), 16 pages.
DOI Scopus45 WoS43 Europe PMC40
2018 Philip, S., Kumarasiri, M., Teo, T., Yu, M., & Wang, S. (2018). Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 8: A New Hope in Targeted Cancer Therapy?. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 61(12), 5073-5092.
DOI Scopus93 WoS90 Europe PMC77
2017 Tadesse, S., Yu, M., Mekonnen, L. B., Lam, F., Islam, S., Tomusange, K., . . . Wang, S. (2017). Highly potent, selective, and orally bioavailable 4-Thiazol-N-(pyridin-2-yl)pyrimidin-2-amine cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 inhibitors as anticancer drug candidates: design, synthesis, and evaluation. Journal of medicinal chemistry, 60(5), 1892-1915.
DOI Scopus72 WoS65 Europe PMC40
2017 Kumarasiri, M., Teo, T., Yu, M., Philip, S., Basnet, S. K. C., Albrecht, H., . . . Wang, S. (2017). In search of novel CDK8 inhibitors by virtual screening. Journal of chemical information and modeling, 57(3), 413-416.
DOI Scopus15 WoS16 Europe PMC10
2017 Diab, S., Abdelaziz, A. M., Li, P., Teo, T., Basnet, S. K. C., Noll, B., . . . Wang, S. (2017). Dual inhibition of Mnk2 and FLT3 for potential treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia. European journal of medicinal chemistry, 139, 762-772.
DOI Scopus23 WoS22 Europe PMC19
2015 Yu, M., Li, P., K c Basnet, S., Kumarasiri, M., Diab, S., Teo, T., . . . Wang, S. (2015). Discovery of 4-(dihydropyridinon-3-yl)amino-5-methylthieno[2,3-d[pyrimidine derivatives as potent Mnk inhibitors: Synthesis, structure-activity relationship analysis and biological evaluation. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 95, 116-126.
DOI Scopus37 WoS37 Europe PMC20
2015 Teo, T., Lam, F., Yu, M., Yang, Y., Basnet, S., Albrecht, H., . . . Wang, S. (2015). Pharmacologic inhibition of MNKs in acute myeloid leukemia. Molecular Pharmacology, 88(2), 380-389.
DOI Scopus31 WoS28 Europe PMC23
2015 Teo, T., Yang, Y., Yu, M., Basnet, S., Gillam, T., Hou, J., . . . Wang, S. (2015). An integrated approach for discovery of highly potent and selective Mnk inhibitors: Screening, synthesis and SAR analysis. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 103, 539-550.
DOI Scopus31 WoS27 Europe PMC17
2015 Basnet, S., Diab, S., Schmid, R., Yu, M., Yang, Y., Gillam, T., . . . Wang, S. (2015). Identification of a highly conserved allosteric binding site on Mnk1 and Mnk2 s. Molecular Pharmacology, 88(5), 935-948.
DOI Scopus15 WoS15 Europe PMC10
2015 Kumarasiri, M., Teo, T., & Wang, S. (2015). Dynamical insights of Mnk2 kinase activation by phosphorylation to facilitate inhibitor discovery. Future Medicinal Chemistry, 7(2), 91-102.
DOI Scopus7 WoS8 Europe PMC4
2015 Teo, T., Yu, M., Yang, Y., Gillam, T., Lam, F., Sykes, M. J., & Wang, S. (2015). Pharmacologic co-inhibition of Mnks and mTORC1 synergistically suppresses proliferation and perturbs cell cycle progression in blast crisis-chronic myeloid leukemia cells. Cancer Letters, 357(2), 612-623.
DOI Scopus43 WoS39 Europe PMC36
2014 Lu, T., Goh, A. W., Yu, M., Adams, J., Lam, F., Teo, T., . . . Wang, S. (2014). Discovery of (E)-3-((Styrylsulfonyl) methyl) pyridine and (E)-2-((Styrylsulfonyl) methyl) pyridine Derivatives as Anticancer Agents: Synthesis, Structure–Activity Relationships, and Biological Activities. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 57(6), 2275-2291.
DOI Scopus33 WoS33 Europe PMC15
2014 Diab, S., Teo, T. H. S., Kumarasiri, M., Li, P., Yu, M., Lam, F., . . . Wang, S. (2014). Discovery of 5-(2-(phenylamino)pyrimidin-4-yl)thiazol-2(3H)-one derivatives as potent Mnk2 inhibitors : synthesis, SAR analysis and biological evaluation. ChemMedChem, 9(5), 962-972.
DOI Scopus80 WoS76 Europe PMC58
2014 Lam, F., Abbas, A. Y., Shao, H., Teo, T., Adams, J., Li, P., . . . Wang, S. (2014). Targeting RNA transcription and translation in ovarian cancer cells with pharmacological inhibitor CDKI-73. Oncotarget, 5(17), 7691-7704.
DOI Scopus50 WoS49 Europe PMC41
2014 Diab, S., Kumarasiri, M., Yu, M., Teo, T., Proud, C., Milne, R., & Wang, S. (2014). MAP kinase-interacting kinases - emerging targets against cancer. Chemistry & Biology, 21(4), 441-452.
DOI Scopus88 WoS84 Europe PMC70
2013 Laurie, K., Dave, A., Straga, T., Souzeau, E., Chataway, T., Sykes, M., . . . Burdon, K. (2013). Identification of a novel oligomerization disrupting mutation in CRYAA associated with congenital cataract in a South Australian family. Human Mutation, 34(3), 435-438.
DOI Scopus29 WoS27 Europe PMC25
2013 Hou, J., Teo, T., Sykes, M. J., & Wang, S. (2013). Insights into the importance of DFD-motif and insertion I1 in stabilizing the DFD-out conformation of Mnk2 kinase. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 4(8), 736-741.
DOI Scopus12 WoS11 Europe PMC8

Year Citation
2024 Bantie, L., Likisa, J., Rahaman, M., Teo, T., Safaroghliazar, A., Basnet, S. K. C., . . . Wang, S. (2024). AU2-94: A CDK4-specific inhibitor with the marked anti-tumor efficacy. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 84 (pp. 2 pages). CA, San Diego: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
DOI
2016 Kumarasiri, M., Teo, T., & Shudong, W. (2016). Computational modeling of the conformational dynamics of the activation process of MAPK-interacting kinases (Mnks). In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY Vol. 251 (pp. 1 page). AMER CHEMICAL SOC.

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