Professor Nuzhat Ahmed

Professor Nuzhat Ahmed is a member of the Centre for Reproductive Health.

Biography

Professor Nuzhat Ahmed is an experienced cell and molecular biologist with a long-standing interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms of ovarian cancer spread.  She did her postdoctoral research training in Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, New Zealand, University of Newcastle, Australia and University of British Columbia in Canada. From 2002-2014, Prof Ahmed led the Ovarian Cancer Research Group in Women’s Cancer Research Centre, Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne. Her significant contribution has been in establishing the novel interaction of cell adhesion molecules with the signalling pathways in cancer, and identifying early-stage biomarkers for ovarian cancer screening. These studies have led to several international patent applications and publications in reputable cancer journals.

Her recent work has focused in understanding the mechanisms of survival of ovarian cancer cells in response to chemotherapy treatment and the re-growth of these cells to cause clinical recurrence. These studies have utilized isolated tumor cells (primary and also from ascites) from patients diagnosed with the advanced-stage disease to model profiles of genes/proteins associated with platinum and taxol-based drug responses.   These studies have led to recent publications in several international reputed cancer journals.  Prof Ahmed has a long-standing interest in understanding the immune cell irregularities in ovarian cancer patients.

Prof Ahmed has supervised several Honours and PhD students and her work has been presented at national and international meetings, as well as reported on news editorials.  She has several local and international collaborations.

Publication highlights