Dr Andrew Dalley

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

UQ Centre for Clinical Research
Faculty of Medicine
a.dalley@uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 66048

Overview

Dr Andrew Dalley is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist within Dr Peter Simpson’s stream of the Molecular Pathology Research Programme at UQCCR. He is currently contributing to a clinician-lead research project that aims to validate diagnostic techniques for mediastinal lymph node dissemination of lung cancer.

Andrew is a practical molecular cell biologist with a strong focus towards clinically translatable research within the hospital setting. His academic experience spans adult and children’s burns research and adult cancer research. He has researched aberrant pharmacokinetics in burnt patients, post-burn hypertrophic scar development, cancer stem cell involvement in Head and Neck cancer development, and diagnostic techniques to define surgical borders for intra-oral cancer excision.

Andrew’s range of practical techniques includes: small molecule tissue sampling and analysis using microdialysis, HPLC and LC/MS; tissue imaging by fluorescence and confocal microscopy; cellular analysis by flow cytometry, live cell imaging, histology and real-time PCR; and patient sample molecular analysis by microarray and Next Generation Sequencing.

Andrew was recently Scientific Support Coordinator for the Cancer Programme at the Diamantina Institute, and prior to this he was Laboratory Studies Coordinator for Professor Camile Farah’s Oral Cancer Research Programme at UQCCR where he investigated the potential involvement of epithelial stem cells in pre-malignant oral dysplasia. Before this Andrew was part of the Burns Trauma & Critical Care Research Centre (BTCCRC) where he evaluated antibiotic distribution in extensively burned patients during surgery.

Formerly based in the UK, Andrew studied BSc Pharmacology and completed his PhD at The University of Sheffield under supervision from Professor Sheila MacNeil. Andrew’s PhD used 3-dimensional cultures to investigate regulation of normal and scar derived fibroblasts by dermal matrix and epithelial cells. Subsequently, he used in-vitro techniques to monitor the uptake of drugs across the gut mucosa and skin.

Andrew’s research interests include clinical diagnostic techniques, phenotypic and genotypic changes in pre-malignant dysplasia, extracellular matrix biology and its involvement in the pathophysiology of burn wound healing, epithelial / mesenchymal interaction across the basement membrane during the healing of cutaneous wounds, and drug distribution in critical patients.

Research Interests

  • Perioperative distribution of antibiotics in extensively burnt patients.
    We monitor the pharmacokinetic distribution of antibiotics in patients with extensive burns during debridement surgery and grafting. Subcutaneous microdialysis in burnt and non-burnt regions together with blood, urine and skin tissue sampling are the main methods used. Analysis is by HPLC and LCMS. Pharmacokinetic principles are applied to the data which is then interpreted with reference to the pharmacodynamics of the antimicrobial agents studied. The results have direct relevance to current clinical practice.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sheffield
  • Bachelor of Science, University of Sheffield

Publications

View all Publications

Publications

Book Chapter

  • Farah, Camile S., Jessri, Maryam, Kordbacheh, Farzaneh, Bennett, Nigel C. and Dalley, Andrew (2015). Next generation sequencing applications in head and neck oncology. Next generation sequencing in cancer research, volume 2: from basepairs to bedside. (pp. 401-422) edited by Wei Wu and Hani Choudhry. New York, NY, United States: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-15811-2_23

Journal Article

Conference Publication

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Note for students: Dr Andrew Dalley is not currently available to take on new students.