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Prostate Research
The Prostate Research Group at the Victorian College of Pharmacy is dedicated to understanding the processes controlling prostate function. The group currently consists of five academic staff members; Dr Betty Extinaris, Dr John Haynes, Dr Sab Ventura, Dr Karen Kerr, Assoc Prof Jo O'Neil (Pennefather), and the higher degree research students Rosanda Buljubasich, Katherine Gray, Slavko Tokanovic and Dan-Thanh Nguyen. As a group our skill base is broad and utilises different approaches to investigate prostate activity including whole animal, isolated tissue and cell culture.
The specific interests within this group are quite varied but centre on the role of neurotransmitters, steroid hormones, natural products and cell to cell interactions in regulating prostate function. Our multidimensional approach to investigating prostate activity sees us identifying alterations in secretion, electrical activity, contractility, proliferation or cell death (apoptosis) using a wide range of techniques, including in vitro pharmacology, real time fluorescent imaging studies, patch clamp and intracellular recording, immunohistochemistry and immunocytochemistry, proliferation and apoptosis assays, and PCR, gel blotting and second messenger assays.
The group has an active research profile and continues to present at national and international meetings, draw research funding from a wide variety of sources and publish in a wide range of quality journals (see below). We are also fortunate enough to enjoy significant collaborations with Mark Frydenberg (Monash Medical Centre), Rick Lang (School of Biomedical Sciences, Monash University) and Peter Roche (School of Medical Sciences, RMIT University).
Current Prostate Research Projects
Potential Honours/Postgraduate Prostate Research Projects
Prostate Research Publications
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