Since completing his PhD at UQ in 2015, Dr Nicholas Fletcher has worked in joint appointments between the CAI, AIBN and UQCCR to establish his own research program alongside the group of Prof Thurecht. His research focuses on the design, in vitro and preclinical assessment of nanomedicines for cancer, with an emphasis on improving understanding and control of their biological interactions. Since the start of 2022, he is now the Radiobiology Theme Leader at the CAI, where he has focused his research towards understanding and controlling the biological interactions of targeted radiotherapeutic nanomedicines. He also has extensive collaborations with Australian Pharma partners, having driven and produced 20 industry reports, with findings from these research programs driving translational impacts, with these preclinical validation programs leading directly to the initiation of three clinical trials of resulting technology. He has a growing track record with 57 publications and >1000 citations (h-index 20), supervising a team of 9 PhD students and has attracted >$600k in funding.

Researcher biography

Breast cancer is a disease with a substantial impact on society and is the most common form of cancer among women, with significant mortality rates. The early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer is key in providing positive patient outcomes. To this end, my research project is to develop polymer based devices which are able to both image tumors in vivo and deliver therapeutic payloads. This project encompasses the synthesis as well as in vitro and in vivo evaluation of multifunctional polymers incorporating:

  • Peptide or oligonucleotide aptamers for cellular targeting;
  • Fluorescent dyes, fluorine containing monomers for 19F MRI, and radioisotope chelating moieties for PET to enable multimodal imaging;
  • Reversible linkage of oligonucleotides for targeted delivery of gene therapies.