Wayne Tilley

Professor Wayne Tilley is the Director of the Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories (DRMCRL) at the University of Adelaide, affiliated with the Adelaide Medical School and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. His research spans 40 years, focusing on nuclear receptors and hormonal carcinogenesis, particularly androgen receptor (AR) and progesterone receptor (PR) signaling in breast and prostate cancers.

• Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD students
• Over 225 peer-reviewed publications

Research Themes: He investigates mechanisms of sex hormone signaling and resistance to hormonal therapies, pioneering the discovery of AR as a tumor suppressor in ER-positive breast cancer and PR-mediated inhibition of ER activity. His lab leverages patient-derived models (PDEs, PDXs) and genomic technologies to develop novel therapies targeting AR and PR in hormone-driven cancers.

Publication Trends: Recent work emphasizes CDK9 inhibition in oncogenic transcription, SARMs for AR reprogramming, and cross-talk between hormone receptors. Studies also explore fatty acid metabolism in prostate cancer and computational tools for pathway analysis.

Scientific Recognition:

• Received Endocrine Society of Australia Senior Plenary Award (2016)
• Chair of 2015 Gordon Research Conference
• Co-chair of 2022 Fusion Nuclear Receptor Meeting

Leadership & Collaboration: Convenes the International PacRim Breast and Prostate Cancer Meeting Series. Collaborates with clinicians, medicinal chemists (e.g., Prof. Shudong Wang), and multidisciplinary teams to translate findings into clinical trials, including four trials of AR and PR activation in ER-driven disease.

Laboratory Focus: DRMCRL integrates basic and translational research, using preclinical models and proteomic/genomic databases to decode hormone receptor dynamics. Current projects seek bioinformatics students for cross-disciplinary analysis of large datasets.