Rate My Professor Nikki Verrills

Professor Nikki Verrills is a Professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medicine, at the University of Newcastle, where she serves as Deputy Head of School (Research and Research Training) and Deputy Leader of the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) Precision Medicine Program. She earned a Bachelor of Science with Honours and a PhD from Macquarie University in 2005, receiving the Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Excellence in Research. Her career trajectory includes roles as Research Assistant at Macquarie University (1999-2001), NHMRC Peter Doherty Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Newcastle (2006-2010), Cancer Institute NSW Early Career Development Fellow (2011-2017), ARC Future Fellow (2017-2021), Lecturer (appointed 2010), Associate Professor (promoted 2019), and full Professor. Verrills has supervised 22 PhD students to completion, mentored numerous early-career researchers, and balanced her academic career with family life.

Verrills' research focuses on biochemical signalling pathways driving cancer development, progression, and therapy resistance, with emphasis on reactivating the tumor suppressor protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), breast cancer, and other malignancies. She employs proteomics, phosphoproteomics, and patient-derived models to identify druggable targets, such as synergistic inhibition of DNA-PK and FLT3 in AML and overcoming venetoclax resistance. Key publications include 'Essential requirement for PP2A inhibition by the oncogenic receptor c-KIT suggests PP2A reactivation as a strategy to treat c-KIT+ cancers' (Cancer Research, 2010), 'Activation of protein phosphatase 2A in FLT3+ acute myeloid leukemia cells enhances the cytotoxicity of FLT3 tyrosine kinase inhibitors' (Oncotarget, 2016), 'Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome (SBDS) protein is a direct inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activity and overexpressed in acute myeloid leukaemia' (Leukemia, 2020), and 'Quantitative phosphoproteomics uncovers synergy between DNA-PK and FLT3 inhibitors in acute myeloid leukaemia' (Leukemia, 2021). She has secured 95 grants totaling over $17.9 million, including NHMRC Ideas Grants, Cancer Institute NSW equipment grants ($599,132 in 2025), and NSW Ministry of Health funding. Awards include the Voiceless Eureka Prize (2007), University of Newcastle Vice Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence (2007), Supervisor of the Year (2019), Bill Cantwell Prize (1998), Young Tall Poppy Award (2007), and Hunter Children’s Research Foundation Research Mentor Award (2024). Verrills contributes to the HMRI Cancer Research Group Steering Committee, NHMRC Grant Review Panel, and organising committees for cancer research conferences.