Professor Janni Petersen

Research in my laboratory focuses on Cancer Cell Metabolism and Cell Biology. I am particularly interested in understanding how tumour cells differentiate from the body's normal cells in terms of nutrient metabolism. To this end we investigate two major nutrient-sensing signalling networks, the Target Of Rapamycin TOR and AMPK signalling networks that play major roles in tumorigenesis in humans.

I am a biochemist (obtained a BSc in Biochemistry 1989-1992), a Geneticist (obtained a MSc in Molecular Genetics 1992-1994) and a Cell Biologist (obtained a PhD in cell biology (1995-1998 ) all from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1998, I joined the laboratory of Professor Iain Hagan at The University of Manchester and Cancer Research UK Manchester institute as a postdoctoral Research Fellow to study the role of protein kinases in regulating cell cycle progression in fission yeast. I then worked as a Research Associate with Nobel laureate Sir Paul Nurse at the Rockefeller University in New York, USA, and continued my studies of the role of protein kinases in regulating cell cycle progression in fission yeast. In 2005, I became a Lecturer within the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester, UK. In December 2009, I was awarded a Cancer Research UK Senior Research Fellowship. My appointment to Flinders University as an Associate Professor along with a Faculty appointment at SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) as part of the Nutrition and Metabolism theme commenced 2015. At Flinders University my group is a member of the Centre for innovation in Cancer.