Francisco Sadras

Dr. Francisco Sadras serves as an Honorary Fellow and Associate Lecturer within the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Queensland. His research program centers on calcium signaling dynamics in breast cancer progression, with particular emphasis on cancer-associated fibroblasts and tumor microenvironment interactions.

His primary research interests include calcium signaling, breast cancer biology, cancer-associated fibroblasts, ion channel regulation (ORAI1, STIM1, PIEZO1), and tumor microenvironment remodeling. Dr. Sadras investigates how alterations in calcium influx pathways contribute to epithelial-mesenchymal transition, apoptosis resistance, and metastatic processes in breast cancer models using live-cell imaging, high-throughput screening, and molecular techniques.

Analysis of his 2019-2024 publications reveals consistent focus on calcium dynamics in breast cancer stroma, with key themes including channel remodeling in cancer-associated fibroblasts, mechanotransduction via cellular geometry, and calcium-mediated signaling in metastasis. His work frequently employs MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 cell lines in co-culture systems to model tumor-stroma interactions.

Scientific Awards: No awards or fellowships are documented in the available information.

Dr. Sadras collaborates extensively within Professor Gregory R. Monteith and Associate Professor Sarah J. Roberts-Thomson's research group. The provided materials contain no details regarding graduate student supervision or specific grant funding, though his publication record indicates participation in larger collaborative projects.

He is an active contributor to the breast cancer research team at UQ's School of Pharmacy, focusing on translating calcium signaling discoveries into potential therapeutic strategies. Current efforts include investigating calcium dynamics in brain metastasis models and developing high-throughput assays for drug discovery targeting calcium channels in the tumor microenvironment.