Frances Byrne

Dr. Frances Byrne is a Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) within the School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences. Her research focuses on cancer cell metabolism, specifically developing small molecules that disrupt cancer cell metabolism and investigating the links between obesity and cancer development.

Dr. Byrne earned her PhD from the Children's Cancer Institute at UNSW Sydney and completed her Bachelor of Biotechnology (Honors) at Flinders University in South Australia.

Her primary research interests include cancer cell metabolism, anti-cancer molecule development targeting metabolic pathways, obesity-related cancer mechanisms, and mitochondrial uncouplers as therapeutic agents. Dr. Byrne's laboratory develops novel derivatives of BH10 and mitochondrial uncoupler BAM15 to disrupt cancer cell metabolism.

Analysis of Dr. Byrne's recent publications reveals a strong focus on the intersection of metabolism, obesity, and cancer. Her work spans cancer therapeutics development, obesity-cancer links, mitochondrial function, and metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells, with particular emphasis on liver and endometrial cancers.

Dr. Byrne has received numerous awards including multiple Paper of the Month awards from UNSW, the Bioscience Reports Best EMCR Poster Presentation, and several conference presentation prizes.

She supervises multiple PhD students across the Schools of BABS, Chemistry, and Biomedical Sciences and has received significant research funding including Cancer Institute NSW Career Development and Early Career Fellowships, REDI Fellowship, and various UNSW grants.

Dr. Byrne is actively involved in the cancer research community through her service on committees, grant reviewing, and participation in national conferences.