Dr. Peter Nicholls

Dr Nicholls graduated with a Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (Hons) in 2007, and received his PhD from the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Monash University (2012, Australia) on the development and endocrine regulation of the reproductive tract. Dr Nicholls then undertook postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute, based within the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA). In this research, Dr Nicholls described how embryonic cells of the germline - the precursors of both eggs and sperm - become committed to produce gametes in adulthood, and no other cell type. When this commitment fails to occur, these embryonic cells may instead form germ cell tumours of the gonads, one of the most common cancers of young children, and the most common cancer in men under 45 years of age.

Dr Nicholls has been awarded several honours, including the New Investigator Award from the Society for Reproductive Biology (Australia), and postdoctoral research fellowships awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) and the Hope Funds for Cancer Research (USA).

In 2020, Dr Nicholls joined the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics. In ongoing studies, Dr Nicholls uses a number of model organisms to explore how genetic and environmental factors influence the development of gonadal tumours from embryonic cells, and the molecular pathways that govern the sensitivity of tumours to chemotherapy.