Nicole Smith

Nicole Smith is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in the School of Molecular Sciences and a member of the Australian Centre for RNA Therapeutics in Cancer. Her research focuses on non-canonical nucleic acid structures, including G-quadruplexes and i-Motifs, in diseases such as cancers, dementias, and neurodegenerative disorders. She holds a PhD from UWA (2010) and has conducted postdoctoral research at institutions like the Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie (Bordeaux, France) and The Australian National University.

• Education: B.Sc. (Biochemistry & Chemistry, University of Sydney), PhD (University of Western Australia)
• Postdoctoral roles: ANR Fellowship (IECB, France), ANU (Australia)

Her research interests span Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, Biophysics, and Genomics. She investigates the role of nucleic acid structures in disease mechanisms, with a focus on therapeutic applications. Key projects include targeting G-quadruplex DNA in Alzheimer’s and breast cancer, and developing nanotechnology-based therapies for neurotrauma.

Dr. Smith has secured over 28 grants, including a NHMRC Dementia Fellowship (2017), National Breast Cancer Foundation Innovator Grant (2017), and leadership in the ARC Training Centre for Next-Gen Biomedical Analysis. Her work contributes to UN SDGs 3 (Good Health) and 9 (Industry Innovation).

She has supervised numerous students, including 6 PhD graduates, 10 Masters students, and 9 Honours students, alongside exchange scholars from the University of Bath and others. Awards include the Healy Research Collaboration Award (2015) and a visiting professorship at Università Degli Studi di Padova (2021).

Labs/Teams: Australian Centre for RNA Therapeutics in Cancer, collaborations in nanomedicine, neuroscience, and drug delivery.