MEET THE TEAM
Associate Professor Marian Burr
Team Leader
Sarah Popp
Lab Manager
Dr. Mazhar Hussain
Senior Research Officer
Background: Dr. Mazhar completed his PhD from Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, New Zealand. Research: Since joining the Burr Lab in 2022, he has been dedicated to unravelling the molecular mechanisms underpinning the epigenetic regulation of MHC-I in Small Cell Lung Cancer.
Dr. Chelisa Cardinez
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Rachel Woodhouse
Postdoctoral Fellow
Background: Rachel completed her PhD at the University of Sydney where she characterized mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance. Research: She joined the Burr Group as a postdoc in 2022 and is investigating epigenetic dependencies in EZH2-mutant lymphoma. She is fascinated by unravelling epigenetic mechanisms and exploring their manipulation as novel cancer therapies.
Dr. Francesco Casciello
Postdoctoral Fellow
Xianghan Li
BioInformatician
Binu Bakhati
Administration Officer
Background: Binu completed her bachelor's in Microbiology from Trichandra University in Nepal and moved to Australia and completed her master's from Charles Sturt University in 2019. Research: Binu joined Burr Lab in May 2024 and is currently working as Administration Officer and also assists in lab by doing little bit of everything.
Juliana Gomez
PhD Student
Background: Juliana completed her master’s degree in January 2020 at the University of Melbourne, where she investigated mechanisms of resistance to EGFR inhibitors in glioblastoma. Research: She began working as research officer for A/Prof Marian Burr at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in May 2020, investigating epigenetic mechanisms of immune evasion in cancer, and in 2021, moved with the the Burr Lab to the Australian National University. She is currently undertaking a PhD program in cancer immunology and epigenetics in the Burr group.
Erin Brotherton
PhD Student
Background: Erin found an interest in science at the University of Adelaide where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science with a major in Immunology. She also completed Honours exploring the control of immune cell migration into solid tumours via chemokine signalling. Research: Erin is now a PhD student in the Burr Laboratory studying the epigenetic regulators of immune evasion in lung cancer, specifically Major Histocompatibility Complexes class I and class II, and how targeting MHC in solid tumours may improve outcomes to immunotherapy.
Elizabeth Mee
PhD Student
Background: Lizzy completed her honours project in Adele Lehane's lab at the Research School of Biology at ANU in 2021, where she worked on the characterisation of the PfSulP transporter in Plasmodium falciparum. Research: Lizzy is a first year PhD student in the Burr Lab and is currently working on a project to develop new treatments for EZH2 mutant Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma by understanding the mechanisms of epigenetic dysregulation driving these malignancies. She previously worked as a Research Assistant in the Burr lab for 12 months. She has experience in CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and a range of cell and molecular biology techniques - and is excited to keep learning new techniques throughout her PhD!