Rate My Professor Janice Royds

Dr. Janice Royds is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Division. She holds a BSc with First Class Honours and a PhD, and possesses a background in biochemistry and molecular pathology with over 35 years of experience in academic teaching and research in cancer biology. Previously serving as a lecturer in the department, Royds has made significant contributions to understanding molecular mechanisms in cancer through her affiliation with the Slatter and Hung Laboratory for Molecular Pathogenesis. The laboratory investigates telomere maintenance in glioblastoma and uterine cancers and its implications for tumor behavior, including metastasis and recurrence. Additional research explores cell fate decisions in precancerous lesions, cancer development, placental tissue, and autoimmune diseases, including the role of human papillomavirus in placental pathology and pregnancy complications via the Otago Placental Study cohort established with collaborators.

Royds has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications that have advanced knowledge in p53 pathway regulation, telomere biology, and glioma pathogenesis. Key works include 'Evidence that replication of the antitumor adenovirus ONYX-015 is transcriptionally regulated by wild-type p53' (Journal of Virology, 2002), 'Nuclear localization of Y-box factor YB1 requires wild-type p53' (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2003), 'PAX8 regulates telomerase reverse transcriptase and telomerase activity in human thyroid cancer cells' (Cancer Research, 2008), 'Increased paired box transcription factor 8 has a survival function in glioma' (British Journal of Cancer, 2014), and 'Pilocytic astrocytomas have telomere-associated promyelocytic leukaemia bodies' (American Journal of Pathology, 2010). She has co-authored textbooks such as Cancer Biology and Treatment (Oxford University Press, 2021), Molecular Biology: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2016), and Tools and Techniques in Biomolecular Science (Oxford University Press, 2013), which are widely used in biomedical education. With over 190 publications and more than 6,000 citations, her research has had a notable impact on the fields of molecular oncology and pathology.