Rate My Professor Natalie Lister

Dr. Natalie Lister is a Research Fellow in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at Monash University, affiliated with the Biomedicine Discovery Institute, where she leads the Prostate Cancer Group within the Prostate Cancer Research Group. Motivated by family members affected by prostate cancer—one successfully treated surgically and another facing metastatic disease and limited options—she completed her PhD at Monash University, supported by scholarships including the Australian Postgraduate Award (2007), Australian Stem Cell Centre PhD Scholarship (2007), Monash Departmental Scholarship (2006), and Monash Graduate Scholarship (2005). Her research addresses unmet needs in treating drug-resistant prostate cancer by developing over 30 preclinical models, including patient-derived xenografts and organoids from lethal tumors refractory to therapies. Lister's innovative program targets cancer cells' reliance on gene regulatory networks controlled by master transcription factors, using computational algorithms to predict oncogenic vulnerabilities and identify small molecule inhibitors via Connectivity Map databases. This empirical-computational pipeline aims to enable personalized medicine, predicting targets from tumor biopsies for translation into clinical trials with oncologists and the ANZUP trials group.

Since joining Monash in 2006, Lister has advanced as a senior research fellow and immunologist, contributing to multidisciplinary efforts in the Cancer and Stem Cells Programs. Key publications include 'The MURAL collection of prostate cancer patient-derived xenografts enables discovery through preclinical models of uro-oncology' (Nature Communications, 2021), 'Mast cell-derived samd14 is a novel regulator of the human prostate tumor microenvironment' (Cancers, 2021), 'Left out in the cold: Moving beyond hormonal therapy for the treatment of immunologically cold prostate cancer with CAR T cell immunotherapies' (Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2024), 'Proteomic profiling of human prostate cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) reveals LOXL2-dependent regulation of the tumor microenvironment' (Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, 2019), and 'Tissue engineered human prostate microtissues reveal key role of mast cell-derived tryptase in potentiating cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF)-induced morphometric transition in vitro' (Biomaterials, 2019). She received the Monash BDI Industry Pitch competition award (2019), Future Leader Postdoctoral Fellowship (2022), and NHMRC Ideas Grant (2023) for MYBL2 inhibition research. Lister serves on the BDI Organoid Platform Steering Committee and Monash Medical Centre Scientific Advisory Committee, tutors Immunology courses, and promotes STEM through Girls Day Australia and Prostate Cancer Foundation events.