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  • Dr Pauline Zaenker

    Dr Pauline Zaenker

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Dr Pauline Zaenker

Lecturer

Staff Member Details
Telephone: +61 8 6304 2783
Email: p.zaenker@ecu.edu.au
Campus: Joondalup  
Room: JO17.310  
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0807-1968

Dr Zaenker is a Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow in the School of Medical and Health Sciences, within the Melanoma Research group. She is also the Deputy Cancer Program Lead in the Centre for Precision Health, an ECU Strategic Research Centre.

Dr Zaenker specialises in the identification and validation of blood based biomarkers, in particular tumour-associated autoantibodies, for the early diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of treatment success of cutaneous melanoma skin cancer.

Professional Associations

  • Huntington’s Disease Youth Organization (HDYO), 2015-Present
  • Autoimmunity Network, 2016-Present
  • The Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation (CERI), 2016-Present

Awards and Recognition

  • The West Australian newspaper’s 50 Rising Stars 2019
  • ECU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Outstanding Public Engagement by a Researcher or Research Team Award 2018, $1000
  • The Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation (CERI) concept to creation investors pitch winner 2017
  • The School of Medical Science Research Scholarship August 2017 – May 2018, $5000
  • Inspiring Minds Scholarship, Edith Cowan University and the Australian Government, 2014-2017, $40,000 AUD p.a.
  • 3 Minute Thesis competition ECU finalist, Edith Cowan University, 2012
  • BioGENEius Western Australia competition finalist, 2008

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Edith Cowan University, 2018.
  • Master of Science (Human Biology), Edith Cowan University, 2014.
  • Bachelor of Science (Human Biology), Edith Cowan University, 2011.

Research Outputs

2024

Journal Articles

  • Turner, M., Bartlett, D., Poudel, G., Zaenker, P., Laws, S., Lo, J., Ziman, M., Cruickshank, T. (2024). Associations Between Sleep Quality And Serum Levels Of Neurofilament Light In Individuals With Premanifest Huntington Disease. Sleep Science, 2024(Article in Press), TBD. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-1777783.
  • Hossain, S., Armstrong, L., Cook, D., Zaenker, P. (2024). Application of Histopathology Image Analysis Using Deep Learning Networks. Human-Centric Intelligent Systems, 4(2), 20 pages. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s44230-024-00077-z.

2023

Book Chapters

Journal Articles

  • Taylor, J., Gandhi, A., Gray, E., Zaenker, P. (2023). Checkpoint inhibitor immune-related adverse events: A focused review on autoantibodies and B cells as biomarkers, advancements and future possibilities. Frontiers in Immunology, 13(January 2023), Article number 991433. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.991433.

2022

Journal Articles

  • Bartlett, D., Hansen, S., Cruickshank, T., Rankin, T., Zaenker, P., Mazzucchelli, G., Gaston, M., Du Plooy, D., Minhaj, Z., Errey, W., Rumble, T., Hay, T., Miles, A., Mills, B. (2022). Effects of sleepiness on clinical decision making amongst paramedic students: A simulated sight shift study. Emergency Medicine Journal, 39(1), 45-51. https://doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2019-209211.
  • Sexauer, D., Gray, E., Zaenker, P. (2022). Tumour-associated Autoantibodies as Prognostic Cancer Biomarkers - A Review. Autoimmunity Reviews, 21(4), Article number 103041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2022.103041.

2021

Journal Articles

  • Reyes, A., Bartlett, D., Rankin, T., Zaenker, P., Turner, K., Teo, W., Fu, SC., Domingos, J., Georgiou-Karistianis, N., Ziman, M., Cruickshank, T. (2021). Clinical Determinants of Dual Tasking in People With Premanifest Huntington Disease. Physical Therapy, 101(4), Article number pzab016. https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzab016.

Conference Publications

  • Hossain, M., Armstrong, L., Abu-Khalaf, J., Cook, D., Zaenker, P. (2021). Overlapping Cell Nuclei Segmentation in Digital Histology Images using Intensity-based Contours. 2021 Digital Image Computing: Techniques and Applications (DICTA) (1-9). IEEE Xplore. https://doi.org/10.1109/DICTA52665.2021.9647395.

2020

Journal Articles

  • Zaenker, P., Prentice, D., Ziman, M. (2020). Tropomyosin autoantibodies associated with checkpoint inhibitor myositis. OncoImmunology, 9(1), Article number 1804703. https://doi.org/10.1080/2162402X.2020.1804703.
  • Lo, J., Reyes, A., Pulverenti, T., Rankin, T., Bartlett, D., Zaenker, P., Rowe, G., Feindel, K., Poudel, G., Georgiou-Karistianis, N., Ziman, M., Cruickshank, T. (2020). Dual tasking impairments are associated with striatal pathology in Huntington’s disease. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, 7(9), 1608-1619. https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51142.

2019

Journal Articles

  • Bartlett, D., Dominguez D, JF., Reyes, A., Zaenker, P., Feindel, K., Newton, R., Hannan, A., Slater, J., Eastwood, P., Lazar, A., Ziman, M., Cruickshank, T. (2019). Investigating the relationships between hypothalamic volume and measures of circadian rhythm and habitual sleep in premanifest Huntington's disease. Neurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, 6(January 2019), p. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbscr.2018.07.001.
  • Aya-Bonilla, C., Gray, E., Manikandan, J., Freeman, J., Zaenker, P., Reid, A., Khattak, M., Frank, M., Millward, M., Ziman, M. (2019). Immunomagnetic-Enriched Subpopulations of Melanoma Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) Exhibit Distinct Transcriptome Profiles. Cancers, 11(2), Article number 157. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers11020157.
  • Stark, M., Gray, E., Isaacs, T., Chen, F., Millward, M., McEvoy, A., Zaenker, P., Ziman, M., Soyer, H., Glasson, W., Warrier, S., Stark, A., Rolfe, O., Palmer, J., Hayward, N. (2019). A Panel of Circulating MicroRNAs Detects Uveal Melanoma With High Precision. Translational Vision Science and Technology, 8(6), Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1167/tvst.8.6.12.

2018

Journal Articles

  • Cruickshank, T., Reyes, A., Penailillo, L., Pulverenti, T., Bartlett, D., Zaenker, P., Blazevich, T., Newton, R., Thompson, J., Lo, J., Ziman, M. (2018). Effects of multidisciplinary therapy on physical function in Huntington’s disease. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 138(6), 500-507. https://doi.org/10.1111/ane.13002.
  • Zaenker, P., Lo, J., Pearce, R., Cantwell, P., Cowell, L., Lee, M., Quirk, C., Law, H., Gray, E., Ziman, M. (2018). A diagnostic autoantibody signature for primary cutaneous melanoma. Oncotarget, 9(55), 30539-30551. https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.25669.
  • Reyes, A., Salomonczyk, D., Teo, W., Medina, L., Bartlett, D., Pirogovsky-Turk, E., Zaenker, P., Bloom, J., Simmons, R., Ziman, M., Gilbert, P., Cruickshank, T. (2018). Computerised dynamic posturography in premanifest and manifest individuals with Huntington's disease. Scientific Reports, 8(1), Article number 14615. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32924-y.

2016

Journal Articles

  • Zaenker, P., Gray, E., Ziman, M. (2016). Autoantibody Production in Cancer—The Humoral Immune Response toward Autologous Antigens in Cancer Patients. Autoimmunity Reviews, 15(5), 477-483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2016.01.017.

Research Projects

  • Western Australia Melanoma Initiative (WAMI): developing novel treatments for immunotherapy-resistant melanoma, Cancer Research Trust, The Grant, 2024 ‑ 2029, $1,167,284.
  • The effect of cognitive and exercise training on Brain Atrophy and Cognitive Decline in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Adjuvant Chemotherapy Agents, Cancer Council of WA Inc, Collaborative Cancer Grant Scheme, 2018 ‑ 2025, $49,966.
  • AMRF's Early Career Scientist Grant, Australian Melanoma Research Foundation, 2023 Research Grant, 2023 ‑ 2025, $15,000.
  • Enhanced liquid biopsy for the detection of melanoma brain metastases , Spinnaker Health Research Foundation, Seed Grant, 2025, $20,000.
  • Multimodal Liquid biopsy to Predict Response of Melanoma to Immuno-Oncology, Spinnaker Health Research Foundation, Janine Chalwell Gift Grant, 2022 ‑ 2024, $102,459.
  • Autoantibodies as Biomarkers of Response to Immunotherapy and Onset of Immune-related Adverse Events in Cutaneous Melanoma Patients, Department of Health WA, WA Near-miss Awards: Ideas , 2023 ‑ 2024, $100,000.
  • AMRF Early Career Researcher Grants Program, Australian Melanoma Research Foundation, 2020 Research Grant, 2020 ‑ 2021, $30,000.
  • The development of in-house autoantibody assays to measure response to immunotherapy in melanoma patients, Edith Cowan University, ECU Early Career Researcher Grant - 2019, 2019 ‑ 2020, $29,800.
  • Development of a Multiplex Test for the Early Diagnosis of Melanoma, Tour de Cure, Senior Research Grant, 2019, $280,000.

Research Student Supervision

Current Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Master of Medical and Health Science by Research, Comparison of Autoantibodies with Circulating-Tumour DNA to Predict and Monitor Clinical Response to Pembrolizumab in Late-Stage Melanoma Patients

Co-principal Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, A multi-omic approach for the detection of melanoma brain metastasis

Completed Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Master of Medical and Health Science by Research, Autoantibodies as prognostic biomarkers for cutaeous melanoma
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