John Lock

Dr John Lock is Senior Lecturer and Head of the Cancer Systems Microscopy (CSM) lab within the Department of Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He serves as Associate Director of Research for the School of Biomedical Sciences and holds multiple leadership roles including Deputy Chair of the School's Research Strategy Committee. His research integrates advanced imaging technologies with artificial intelligence to develop precision diagnostics and targeted cancer therapies.

Dr Lock completed his PhD at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland (2001-2006), following Honours (1st Class) in Biochemistry (2000-2001) and BSc in Biochemistry (1997-2000), all at the University of Queensland. He then conducted postdoctoral research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm with consecutive fellowships from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and Swedish Cancer Foundation.

His research focuses on Systems Microscopy - an imaging-based systems biology approach that combines novel experimental design, automation, quantitative image analysis, and machine learning. Key research areas include precision diagnostics using circulating tumour cell analysis, targeted therapy development through phenotypic drug screening, and fundamental insights into cancer progression mechanisms. His lab has pioneered Proteomic Microscopy for diagnostic/prognostic cancer signalling analysis.

Analysis of Dr Lock's publication record reveals a strong trajectory from fundamental cell biology toward translational cancer research with increasing integration of AI and machine learning. His early work focused on cell adhesion complexes and cytoskeletal dynamics, while recent publications emphasize high-plexity imaging, representation learning for single-cell data, and precision diagnostics applications. This evolution demonstrates successful translation of basic science discoveries into clinical applications.

• Eva & Alex Wallestroms Foundation Award (2008)
• Karolinska Institute Young Researcher Award (2010)
• Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award (2017)
• Finalist in Shenzhen Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition (2021)
• UNSW Scientia Fellow (2023)

Dr Lock is primary supervisor of 4 HDR students and joint supervisor of 1 HDR student. His research is supported by substantial grant funding including NHMRC Ideas Grants (2023, 2022, 2019), ARC Discovery Projects (2022, 2017), Tour de Cure Pioneering Grant (2023), and UNSW Scientia Fellowship (2023-2027). He co-founded the Systems Microscopy Australia Network and serves as co-organizer of the Functional High Throughput Technologies Australia meeting.

The Cancer Systems Microscopy lab forms a multidisciplinary ecosystem collaborating with fundamental and translational cancer researchers, clinicians, technology developers, and data scientists. Dr Lock is an invited member of the UNSW Steering Committee for the >$10M Expanded Perception & Interaction Centre (EPICentre), UNSW Data Science Hub, and UNSW AI & Data Science Network, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of his work.