Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR)


http://www.waimr.uwa.edu.au

Professor Aleksandra Filipovska

Aleksandra Filipovska

Phone: +61 8 9224 0330
Email: aleksandra.filipovska@waimr.uwa.edu.au

Aleksandra Filipovska received her PhD in 2002 from the University of Otago, New Zealand. From 2003-2005 she was a NZ Foundation for Research, Science and Technology Fellow at the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. In 2006 she relocated to Australia as a NHMRC Howard Florey Fellow and established her research group at the Centre for Medical Research at the University of Western Australia in Perth. She is currently an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the University of Western Australia and a group leader at the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research. Her research interests are in mitochondrial gene expression and the role of RNA-binding proteins in health and disease.

Qualifications

1998BSc (Hons, first class) - Biochemistry, University of Otago, New Zealand
2002PhD - Biochemistry, University of Otago, New Zealand

Positions Held

2008-presentARC Future Fellow, The University of Western Australia, Australia
2006-2008NHMRC Howard Florey Research Fellow, The University of Western Australia, Australia
2003-2006Foundation for Research, Science and Technology Research Fellow, MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Cambridge, UK
2002-2003Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Otago, New Zealand

Research Interests

  • Mitochondrial dysfunction in disease
  • Regulation of mitochondrial gene expression
  • Pentatricopeptide repeat domain proteins
  • Mitochondrial RNA-binding proteins
  • Targeting compounds to mitochondria

Scientific Involvement

  • Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - Member.
  • Society for Free Radical Research of Australasia - Member.
  • Metabolism and Molecular Medicine Special Interest Group - Member.
  • Australian and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology - WA State Representative.

Major Grants Awarded

  • NHMRC Project Grants
  • ARC Discovery Project Grant
  • Cancer Council of WA Project Grants
  • ARC Future Fellowship
  • NHMRC Howard Florey Research Fellowship
  • UWA Research Grants
  • Medical Research Foundation Grants

Top 10 Publications

  1. Mercer TR, Neph S, Dinger ME, Crawford J, Smith MA, Shearwood AM, Haugen E, Bracken CP, Rackham O, Stamatoyannopoulos JA, Filipovska A*, Mattick JS. 2011. The human mitochondrial transcriptome. Cell 146(4):645-58. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 32.4] *co-corresponding author
  2. Filipovska A, Razif MF, Nygård KK, Rackham O. 2011. A universal code for RNA recognition by PUF proteins. Nature Chemical Biology 7(7):425-7. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 15.8]
  3. Lopez Sanchez MI, Mercer TR, Davies SM, Shearwood AM, Nygård KK, Richman TR, Mattick JS, Rackham O, Filipovska A. 2011. RNA processing in human mitochondria. Cell Cycle 10(17):1-13. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 5.0]
  4. Rackham O, Davies SM, Shearwood AM, Hamilton KL, Whelan J, Filipovska A. 2009. Pentatricopeptide repeat domain protein 1 lowers the levels of mitochondrial leucine tRNAs in cells. Nucleic Acids Research 37(17):5859-67. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 6.9]
  5. Davies SM, Rackham O, Shearwood AM, Hamilton KL, Narsai R, Whelan J, Filipovska A. 2009. Pentatricopeptide repeat domain protein 3 associates with the mitochondrial small ribosomal subunit and regulates translation. FEBS Letters 583(12):1853-8. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 3.6]
  6. Rackham O, Shearwood AM, Thyer R, McNamara E, Davies SM, Callus BA, Miranda-Vizuete A, Berners-Price SJ, Cheng Q, Arner ES, Filipovska A. 2010. Substrate and inhibitor specificities differ between human cytosolic and mitochondrial thioredoxin reductases: Implications for development of specific inhibitors. Free Radical Biology and Medicine 50(6):689-99. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 5.8]
  7. Hickey JL, Ruhayel RA, Barnard PJ, Baker MV, Berners-Price SJ, Filipovska A. 2008. Mitochondria-targeted chemotherapeutics: the rational design of gold(I) N-heterocyclic carbene complexes that are selectively toxic to cancer cells and target protein selenols in preference to thiols. Journal of the American Chemical Society 130(38):12570-1. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 7.9]
  8. Jellicoe MM, Nichols SJ, Callus BA, Baker MV, Barnard PJ, Berners-Price SJ, Whelan J, Yeoh GC, Filipovska A. 2008. Bioenergetic differences selectively sensitize tumorigenic liver progenitor cells to a new gold(I) compound. Carcinogenesis 29(6):1124-33. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 5.4]
  9. Filipovska A, Rackham O. 2008. Building a parallel metabolism within the cell. ACS Chemical Biology 3(1):51-63. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 4.7]
  10. Rackham O, Nichols SJ, Leedman PJ, Berners-Price SJ, Filipovska A. 2007. A gold(I) phosphine complex selectively induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells: Implications for anticancer therapeutics targeted to mitochondria. Biochemical Pharmacology 74(7):992-1002. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF 4.9]