Fiona Pixley is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Western Australia. A physician-scientist, she earned her MBBS (Hons) from UWA in 1980 and a DPhil in Clinical Medicine and Epidemiology from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Following five years of physician training in Oxford and London hospitals, where she became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK), she acquired molecular biology skills at Oxford’s Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. She then joined Richard Stanley at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York to investigate CSF-1 signaling and tyrosine phosphorylation in regulating macrophage adhesion, motility, and function. In 2007, she established her independent laboratory at UWA within the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.

Pixley’s research centers on macrophage biology, elucidating mechanisms by which tumor-associated macrophages drive cancer cell invasion and metastasis, particularly in breast cancer. Her studies explore CSF-1 receptor pathways, cell motility, matrix degradation, and potential therapeutic interventions targeting macrophage migration. As former Head of Discipline in Pharmacology and Toxicology, she chaired the School’s Research Committee, served on the Executive Committee, organized seminar series, and contributed to developing pharmacology teaching and the preclinical curriculum for UWA’s postgraduate MD program. Notable publications include “The role of macrophage migratory behavior in development, homeostasis and tumor invasion” (Murrey et al., 2024, Frontiers in Immunology), “Mesothelioma survival prediction based on a six-gene transcriptomic signature” (Behrouzfar et al., 2024, iScience), “Therapeutic inhibition of the SRC-kinase HCK facilitates T cell tumor infiltration and improves response to immunotherapy” (Poh et al., 2022, Science Advances), and “Colchicine inhibits macrophage motility and matrix degradation through microtubule disruption” (Vansjariya et al., 2026, Vascular Pharmacology). Her contributions advance understanding of macrophage roles in disease and identify novel cancer therapies.

Professional Email: fiona.pixley@uwa.edu.au