Prof Lenka Munoz
(PharmD, PhD)
Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
Professor Lenka Munoz received her PharmD from Comenius University, Slovakia and PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Bonn, Germany. Her post-doctoral training in molecular pharmacology was at the Northwestern University, Chicago, USA. Following a career disruption, she initiated her academic research career at The University of Sydney, Australia in 2011.
Professor Munoz is Head of the Cell Signaling Laboratory at the Charles Perkins Centre and her research focuses on glioblastoma, a fatal brain tumour. She uses molecular pharmacology and medicinal chemistry approaches, high-throughput omics, and hypothesis-driven strategies to interrogate glioblastoma biology, to validate new drug targets and to develop drugs acting on these targets. She has attracted more than $10 Millions in competitive funding (including 4 NHMRC grants), has a substantial intellectual property and out-licencing portfolio around neuro-oncology therapeutics that she has developed.
Current Projects & Areas of Interest:
Development of brain-permeable microtubule-targeting agents
Validation of novel drug targets emerging from CRISPR genome-wide screens in glioblastoma stem cells
Investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying glioblastoma dormancy and tolerance to therapy
Investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying reversibility of therapy-induced senescence in glioblastoma Development of KDM4 targeting probes and drugs