Rate My Professor Mitchell Lawrence

Associate Professor Mitchell Lawrence is a Senior Research Fellow and Associate Professor (Research) at Monash University's Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. He leads the Genitourinary Laboratory and serves as Laboratory Head in the Prostate Cancer Research Group. Lawrence holds a Bachelor of Applied Science with Honours (BAppSc Hons) and a PhD. He joined Monash University in 2010 to work with Professor Gail Risbridger and Associate Professor Renea Taylor in prostate cancer research. Since 2017, he has held a part-time appointment as Senior Research Fellow at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He has co-led the Monash Prostate Cancer Research Support Group since 2013, chairs the Melbourne Urological Research Alliance Prostate Access Committee, and co-chaired the Endocrine Society of Australia Program Organising Committee from 2021 to 2023. Lawrence is a member of the Kathleen Cuningham Foundation Consortium for research into Familial Breast cancer (kConFab) Biospecimen Subcommittee, the Endocrine Society of Australia Scientific Strengthening Committee and Council, and various Biomedicine Discovery Institute committees.

Lawrence's research focuses on prostate and penile cancer, employing patient-derived models including xenografts, organoids, and cancer-associated fibroblasts from the Melbourne Urological Research Alliance to study tumour biology, pathology, microenvironment, androgen receptor activity, and novel therapies. His projects aim to bridge laboratory discoveries to clinical practice, identifying combination therapies for DNA damage repair inhibition, bipolar androgen therapy responses, high-throughput 3D drug screening, pathological subtypes' prognostic roles, and tumour microenvironment features. Key publications include 'The MURAL collection of prostate cancer patient-derived xenografts enables discovery through preclinical models of uro-oncology' (Nature Communications, 2021), 'Androgen receptor enhancer amplification in matched patient-derived xenografts of primary and castrate-resistant prostate cancer' (Journal of Pathology, 2021), 'High-Throughput Imaging Assay for Drug Screening of 3D Prostate Cancer Organoids' (SLAS Discovery, 2021), and 'Knowing what's growing: Why ductal and intraductal prostate cancer matter' (Science Translational Medicine, 2020). His work has driven changes in international clinical guidelines, clinical trials, and industry partnerships. Awards include the Victorian Cancer Agency Mid-Career Research Fellowship (2019), Endocrine Society of Australia Mid-Career Research Award, Fulbright Postgraduate Award, ANZUP Best of the Best Translational Award, Astellas Best of the Best Oral and Translational Awards, and Monash University Research Talent Accelerator program selection (2023). Lawrence contributes to peer review for funding agencies and journals, supervises students who win prizes, and engages communities through public lectures and lab open days.