Rate My Professor Jodi Saunus

Dr Jodi Saunus is a Senior Research Fellow and Mater Career Track Fellow at Mater Research, affiliated with The University of Queensland. She specialises in translational research on metastatic breast cancer, with a particular emphasis on triple-negative breast cancer and the prevention and treatment of brain metastases. Based at Brisbane’s Translational Research Institute, she was recruited by Mater Research in 2022 to advance patient-focused research bridging biomedical development and clinical practice. Dr Saunus holds an honours degree in biochemistry and biomedical science and a PhD in breast cancer molecular genetics from The University of Queensland. Her postdoctoral experience encompasses immunology, molecular cell biology, pathology informatics, and early-phase investigator-initiated clinical trials.

Her research involves molecular profiling of patient-donated samples to identify biomarkers of treatment response and therapeutic targets, experimental models to understand mechanisms of cancer cell survival in brain tissue, and development of innovative strategies including alpha-particle endoradiotherapy and in-situ vaccination. Dr Saunus has secured more than $6 million in funding and co-authored approximately 70 original research and review articles published in high-impact journals such as Cancer Research, Nature, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communications, and The Journal of Pathology. She is a proponent of biospecimen banking and clinician and consumer engagement in translational research.