Dr Anne Peaston

Biography/ Background

After gaining my undergraduate veterinary degree from the University of Sydney, I worked for a number of years in companion animal/mixed veterinary practice in Australia and England.  In 1988-89 I upgraded my clinical problem solving ability by completing a rotating internship at The Sydney University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (SUVTH).  Over the next 3 years, I focussed my interest in veterinary and comparative oncology through the residency training programme in the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at The University of California-Davis, under the supervision of Dr Bruce Madewell.  Inspired to improve my research training, I returned to Australia and completed a PhD, studying the molecular biology of a human childhood tumor, neuroblastoma, under the supervision of Dr Glenn Marshall at the Children's Cancer Institute Australia.  During the early years of my PhD I also worked part-time in private small animal practice, as a specialist consultant in Oncology at SUVTH, and running occasional oncology courses for The Postgraduate Foundation in Veterinary Science.  In 2000, a C.J. Martin Fellowship from the NHMRC took me to the lab of Dr Barbara Knowles at The Jackson Laboratory on Mt Desert Island, Maine, USA.  The Jackson Laboratory (TJL) is a not-for-profit research institute which focuses on using the mouse as a model organism to investigate aspects of mammalian biology and human disease.  I spent most of the next 11 years at TJL taking advantage of the power of mouse genetics to study aspects of preimplantation development, and mammary cancer.  My particular interest is in the effects of mobile elements or transposable elements in the genome on normal cellular transitions such as those that occur during development, and their effects on the pathological transitions that occur during cancer ontogeny.  In late 2010 I was pleased to accept the outstanding opportunity to combine my interests and experience in basic research, veterinary cancer medicine, and teaching, in a staff position with the new School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences.  My laboratory is continuing a major research project into transposable element activation in mammary cancer.  I hypothesize that oncogene-driven transposable element activation in pre-neoplastic cells deranges normal gene expression and favors cancer development.  I use a mouse model of mammary cancer, in which mammary cells predisposed to malignant transformation are analyzed at several discrete preclinical stages by deep sequencing of the transcriptome and methylome.  Other projects in the lab explore the role of transposable elements as alternative promoters in early embryogenesis.  I am also establishing a referral service in Veterinary Oncology at the Companion Animal Health Centre on the Roseworthy Campus, and my long term plans include initiating/participating in a collaborative clinical veterinary research programme driven by questions that arise in the clinic. 

Qualifications

BVSc (The University of Sydney)

DipVetClinStud (The University of Sydney)

PhD (The University of New South Wales)

Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Oncology)

Fellow of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists

Teaching Interests

I will be involved at all levels teaching principles and practise of clinical and basic comparative oncology, and veterinary clinical haematology.  Much of my teaching will be in small groups in the Companion Animal Health Center on the Roseworthy Campus, where I am a new member of the team teaching DVM I Professional Skills.  Teaching assignments in the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences are still under development, and I will update my teaching interests as appropriate.

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories	Animals and veterinary science
Expertise	Veterinary, Cancer, Medicine, Oncology, Chemotherapy, Mouse models of human disease, mammary cancer, breast cancer, mast cell tumour
Notes	BVSc, DipVetClinStud, PhD, Diplomate American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine; Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Science; member Veterinary Cancer Society; member American Cancer Society; member Frog and Tadpole Study Group of NSW.

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 7 Aug 2012