Richard Christopherson

Professor Emeritus Richard Christopherson serves as Professor of Biochemistry in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, at the University of Sydney. He obtained his BSc and PhD from the University of Melbourne. Over a career spanning more than four decades at the University of Sydney, Christopherson held the position of Foundation Chair of the School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences from 1998 to 2003 and served as Director of the Sydney Proteome Research Unit, which was established following a $2 million grant in 2003. He holds a Personal Chair in Biochemistry and has been affiliated with the Sydney Nano Institute. His academic background includes postdoctoral research and leadership in molecular bioscience.

Christopherson's research centers on cancer biology, with expertise in chemotherapy, haematological tumours, oncology and carcinogenesis, biochemistry and cell biology, enzymes, and haematology. His work emphasizes chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), proteomic profiling of cancer cells, lipid rafts in leukemia, nucleotide biosynthesis inhibitors as anti-cancer drugs, and synergistic drug combinations such as venetoclax with PI3K or AKT inhibitors, Hsp90 inhibitors with fludarabine, and ClpP activators. He has published over 232 papers, accumulating more than 4,400 citations and an h-index of 9. Key publications include 'The Hsp90 inhibitor SNX-7081 is synergistic with fludarabine nucleoside via DNA damage and repair mechanisms in human p53-negative chronic lymphocytic leukemia' (2016), 'Profiling the Lipid Raft Proteome from Human MEC1 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells' (2014), 'The ClpP activator ONC-212 (TR-31) inhibits BCL2 and B-cell receptor signaling in CLL' (2021), 'IBL-202 is synergistic with venetoclax in CLL under in vitro conditions that mimic the tumor microenvironment' (2020), and 'Inhibitors of de Novo Nucleotide Biosynthesis as Drugs' (2000). In 2017, he was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen's Birthday Honours for significant service to medicine through contributions to molecular bioscience. His research has influenced cancer diagnostics, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic strategies for hematologic malignancies.

Professional Email: richard.christopherson@sydney.edu.au