Rate My Professor Nikola Bowden

Bowden's research centers on DNA repair mechanisms, particularly nucleotide excision repair, chemotherapy resistance, immunotherapy, and drug repurposing strategies for melanoma, ovarian cancer, glioblastoma, and other cancers. Her work has led to breakthroughs, such as identifying DNA repair pathway dysfunction in chemotherapy-resistant melanoma (2010 publication), and clinical trials treating patients with repurposed drug combinations, with many patients surviving beyond expectations. Selected key publications include "BCL-2 family isoforms in apoptosis and cancer" (2019, Cell Death & Disease; 801 citations), "Dysregulation of miRNA 181b in the temporal cortex in schizophrenia" (2008, Human Molecular Genetics; 425 citations), "Biomarkers of platinum resistance in ovarian cancer: what can we use to improve treatment" (2018; 256 citations), "Nucleotide excision repair: why is it not used to predict response to platinum-based chemotherapy?" (2014, Cancer Letters; 183 citations), and "The Role of Altered Nucleotide Excision Repair and UVB-Induced DNA Damage in Melanomagenesis" (2013, International Journal of Molecular Sciences; 161 citations). Among her awards are the NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2015), Australian Financial Review Emerging Leader in Higher Education Finalist (2019), Cancer Institute NSW Research Fellow of the Year Finalist (2018), and University of Newcastle Young Alumni Award (2011). She has contributed to committees such as the NHMRC Post-Doctoral Reference Group, Research Translation Faculty, and chaired the Australian Academy of Science Early-Mid Career Researcher Forum.