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• Biography/ Background

  Andrew is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Adelaide.

  Prior to commencing as Executive Dean, Andrew held the positions of Pro Vice-Chancellor of Health Partnerships (University of Adelaide) and Executive Director of Research Strategy (Central Adelaide Local Health Network).

  Andrew is a Professor of Experimental Haematology and co-directs the Myeloma Research Laboratory within the Precision Cancer Medicine Theme at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). He is a recognised leader in the field of mesenchymal stem cell biology and holds numerous patents covering the composition and regenerative properties of Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs), a rare cell population present in many postnatal tissues. The family of patents underpin the cell therapy company, Mesoblast Ltd.

  Andrew is a founding member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG) of Myeloma Australia, the peak body in Australian focused on PBAC submissions, guidance documents and advocacy for myeloma. He, additionally, serves as non-executive director of AusHealth Pty Ltd and a member of a number of intramural and extramural boards.

• Qualifications

  1997: Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Adelaide.

• Research Interests

  Myeloma is haematological malignancy characterised by the clonal proliferation of plasma cells, an immune cell type that normally protects us against infection. Myeloma is the second most common blood cancer and more than 100,000 people are diagnosed each year worldwide. Despite recent advances in treatment, myeloma remains almost universally fatal and has a 10-year survival rate of approximately 17%. The main clinical manifestations of myeloma are the development of osteolytic bone lesions, bone pain, hypercalcaemia, renal insufficiency, suppressed immunoglobulin production and increased bone marrow angiogenesis (blood vessel formation). Myeloma is preceded by a premalignant (asymptomatic) monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance (MGUS) stage. The factors that trigger the progression from MGUS to myeloma remain to be determined; however, our studies show that both intrinsic genetic changes and extrinsic factors play a role in disease progression. Our laboratory’s research is focussed on detecting the key signalling pathways that are deregulated during disease development and determining what microenvironmental changes occur during disease pathogenesis. We believe that these approaches will enable us to identify new molecular markers of disease risk and to design drugs against novel therapeutic targets.

   

  Current projects are focused on:

  • Identifying the genetic, transcriptional and epigenetic changes that trigger the progression from asymptomatic MGUS to myeloma
  • Determining why the bone marrow is a “hot-spot” for myeloma plasma cell metastasis
  • Identifying the mechanisms governing dissemination and relapse in multiple myeloma
  • Identifying the role played by the newly described tumour suppressor genes GLIPR1 and SAMSN1 in multiple myeloma development
  • Determining the effects of myeloma plasma cells on mesenchymal stem cell differentiation.
  • Assessing the effectiveness of targeting class IIa histone deacetylases (HDAC) to treat myeloma and myeloma-associated bone disease
  • Identifying the role of the mTOR pathway in mesenchymal stem cell biology and bone formation.
  • Assessing the effectiveness of targeting skeletal mTORC1 as a novel approach to treat diet-induced insulin resistance

• Research Funding

  Since establishing his laboratory in 2000, Andrew Zannettino has received competitive research funding of more than AUD$12 million, AUD$2.83 million in infrastructure funding and AUD$1.4 million dollars in fellowship support. Notably, he has been awarded a total of 16 NHMRC grants as an investigator valued in excess of $8.5 million. Furthermore, he has received industry funding from sources including Mesoblast, Celgene, Novartis, Zimmer and Johnson & Johnson.

• Publications

  Research Output:

  Andrew has co-authored more than 300 refereed publications, book chapters and review articles, many of which are published in premier Haematology and Orthopaedic journals (BLOOD, Leukemia, BJH, JBMR, Bone), Cancer journals (Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research) and Stem Cell journals (Cell Stem Cell, Stem Cells). Andrew's publications have received in excess of 17000 citations. He has a current H Factor of 73 (Google Scholar).

   

• Professional Associations

  Professional Associations and Appointments:

  Member, Medical and Scientific Advisory Group, Myeloma Foundation of Australia.

  Acting Chair, AusHealth Board

Entry last updated: Thursday, 12 Oct 2023

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