Professor Rhonda Rosengren

Position	Professor
Department	Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Qualifications	BS PhD(Texas A & M)
Research summary	Breast and prostate cancer, nanomedicine, drug metabolism
Memberships	Professor Rhonda Rosengren is a member of the Auckland Cancer Research Network

Research

Toxicological research in my laboratory involves the identification of novel treatments for various cancers including estrogen receptor negative breast cancer, hormone refractory prostate cancer and ovarian cancer. In conjunction with Dr. Bill Hawkins in the department of Chemistry we are synthesizing novel curcumin derivatives and examining their activity in both in vitro and in vivo models of cancer. We have also discovered new roles for tamoxifen and raloxifene in breast and prostate cancer when given as part of a novel combination therapy or in novel formulations. We also have research collaborations with Dr. Andrew Cridge in the Department of Biochemistry, Dr. Jonathan Bray Head of Small Animal Surgery at Massey University Veterinary School, Dr. Heather Cunliffe in the Department of Pathology and Dr. Mihnea Bostina in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. The Otago Medical Research Foundation and grants from the University of Otago currently fund our work.

Additional details

In the news

Breast cancer breakthrough (New Zealand Herald)
Cancer research funding (Otago Daily Times)
$300K made available to support innovative breast cancer research in NZ (New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation)
New projects take NZBCF research spend to $800,000 over the next two years (New Zealand Doctor)
Research targets better drug treatment for breast cancers (Scoop)
University promotes academics (Otago Daily Times)
Otago announces professorial promotions (Scoop)

Publications

Taurin, S., & Rosengren, R. J. (2023). Raloxifene potentiates the effect of gefitinib in triple-negative breast cancer cell lines. Medical Oncology, 40, 45. doi: 10.1007/s12032-022-01909-3

Finlay, D. B., Mackie, W., Webb, H. D. J., Thomsen, L. R., Nimick, M., Rosengren, R. J., … Glass, M., & Wiley, J. L. (2023). The piperazine analogue para-fluorophenylpiperazine alters timing of the physiological effects of the synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist AMB-FUBINACA, without changing its discriminative stimulus, signalling effects, or metabolism. Pharmacology Biochemistry & Behavior. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2023.173530

King, J., Woolner, V. H., Keyzers, R. A., & Rosengren, R. J. (2022). Characterization of marine-derived halogenated indoles as ligands of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor. Toxicology Reports, 9, 1198-1203. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2022.05.016

Palmer, H., Nimick, M., Mazumder, A., Taurin, S., Rana, Z., & Rosengren, R. J. (2022). Raloxifene suppresses tumor growth and metastasis in an orthotopic model of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Biomedicines, 10, 853. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10040853

Shakil, M. S., Rana, Z., Hanif, M., & Rosengren, R. J. (2022). Key considerations when using the sulforhodamine B assay for screening novel anticancer agents. Anti-Cancer Drugs, 33(1), 6-10. doi: 10.1097/CAD.0000000000001131

Taurin, S., & Rosengren, R. J. (2023). Raloxifene potentiates the effect of gefitinib in triple-negative breast cancer cell lines. Medical Oncology, 40, 45. doi: 10.1007/s12032-022-01909-3

Journal - Research Article

Nathan, R. J., Jain, A. K., & Rosengren, R. J. (2022). Biosorption of heavy metals from water: Mechanism, critical evaluation and translatability of methodology. Environmental Technology Reviews, 11(1), 91-117. doi: 10.1080/21622515.2022.2078232

Journal - Research Article

Rana, Z., Diermeier, S., Walsh, F. P., Hanif, M., Hartinger, C. G., & Rosengren, R. J. (2021). Anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic and safety profiles of novel HDAC inhibitors for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Pharmaceuticals, 14, 1020. doi: 10.3390/ph14101020

Journal - Research Article

Rana, Z., Tyndall, J. D. A., Hanif, M., Hartinger, C. G., & Rosengren, R. J. (2021). Cytostatic action of novel histone deacetylase inhibitors in androgen receptor-null prostate cancer cells. Pharmaceuticals, 14, 103. doi: 10.3390/ph14020103

Journal - Research Article

Shakil, M. S., Parveen, S., Rana, Z., Walsh, F., Movassaghi, S., Söhnel, T., Azam, M., … Rosengren, R. J., & Hartinger, C. G. (2021). High antiproliferative activity of hydroxythiopyridones over hydroxypyridones and their organoruthenium complexes. Biomedicines, 9, 123. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9020123

Journal - Research Article

Chand, R. R., Nimick, M., Cridge, B., & Rosengren, R. J. (2021). In vitro hepatic assessment of cineole and Its derivatives in common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) and rodents. Biology, 10, 1326. doi: 10.3390/biology10121326

Journal - Research Article

Niloy, M. S., Shakil, M. S., Hossen, M. S., Alam, M., & Rosengren, R. J. (2021). Promise of gold nanomaterials as a lung cancer theranostic agent: A systematic review. International Nano Letters, 11, 111, 93-111. doi: 10.1007/s40089-021-00332-2

Journal - Research Other

Niloy, M. S., Shakil, M. S., Alif, M. M. H., & Rosengren, R. J. (2021). Using natural compounds to target KRAS mutated non-small cell lung cancer. Current Medicinal Chemistry, 28(39), 8098-8115. doi: 10.2174/0929867328666210301105856

Journal - Research Other

Bland, A. R., Shrestha, N., Bower, R. L., Rosengren, R. J., & Ashton, J. C. (2021). The effect of metformin in EML₄-ALK+ lung cancer alone and in combination with crizotinib in cell and rodent models. Biochemical Pharmacology, 183, 114345. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2020.114345

Journal - Research Article

Badart, M. P., Barnes, E. M., Cording, A. P., Gilmer, S. C. L., Billinghurst, I. D., Edupuganti, V. V. S. R., … Bland, A. R., Bower, R. L., Rana, Z., Ferguson, S. A., Opel Reading, H. K., Cook, G. M., Rosengren, R. J., Krause, K. L., Gamble, A. B., Ashton, J. C., & Hawkins, B. C. (2021). Synthesis and biological evaluation of (-) and (+)-spiroleucettadine and analogues. ChemMedChem, 16, 1308-1315. doi: 10.1002/cmdc.202000954

Journal - Research Article

Hanif, M., Arshad, J., Astin, J. W., Rana, Z., Zafari, A., Movassaghi, S., … Rosengren, R. J., … Hartinger, C. G. (2020). A multitargeted approach: Organorhodium anticancer agent based on vorinostat as a potent histone deacetylase inhibitor. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 59, 14609-14614. doi: 10.1002/anie.202005758

Journal - Research Article

Shrestha, N., Bland, A. R., Bower, R. L., Rosengren, R. J., & Ashton, J. C. (2020). Inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase alone and in combination with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibition suppresses tumor growth in a mouse model of ALK-positive lung cancer. Journal of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, 374, 134-140. doi: 10.1124/jpet.120.266049

Journal - Research Article

Nathan, R. J., Barr, D., & Rosengren, R. J. (2022). Six fruit and vegetable peel beads for the simultaneous removal of heavy metals by biosorption. Environmental Technology, 43(13), 1935-1952. doi: 10.1080/09593330.2020.1858183

Journal - Research Article

Rana, Z., Diermeier, S., Hanif, M., & Rosengren, R. J. (2020). Understanding failure and improving treatment using HDAC inhibitors for prostate cancer. Biomedicines, 8(2), 22. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines8020022

Journal - Research Other

Bland, A. R., Shrestha, N., Rosengren, R. J., & Ashton, J. C. (2020). Does crizotinib auto-inhibit CYP3A in vivo? [Brief report]. Pharmacology, 105, 715-718. doi: 10.1159/000506996

Journal - Research Other

Martey, O. N. K., Greish, K., Smith, P. F., & Rosengren, R. J. (2019). A multivariate statistical analysis of the effects of styrene maleic acid encapsulated RL71 in a xenograft model of triple negative breast cancer. Journal of Biological Methods, 6(4). doi: 10.14440/jbm.2019.306

Journal - Research Article

Singh, R. J., Martin, C. E., Barr, D., & Rosengren, R. J. (2019). Cucumber peel bead biosorbent for multi-ion decontamination of drinking water collected from a mine region in New Zealand. Environmental Technology, 42(16), 2461-2477. doi: 10.1080/09593330.2019.1703824

Journal - Research Article

Shrestha, N., Nimick, M., Dass, P., Rosengren, R. J., & Ashton, J. C. (2019). Mechanisms of suppression of cell growth by dual inhibition of ALK and MEK in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer. Scientific Reports, 9, 18842. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-55376-4

Journal - Research Article

Bland, A. R., Bower, R. L., Nimick, M., Hawkins, B. C., Rosengren, R. J., & Ashton, J. C. (2019). Cytotoxicity of curcumin derivatives in ALK positive non-small cell lung cancer. European Journal of Pharmacology, 865, 172749. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2019.172749

Journal - Research Article

Chen, S., Nimick, M., Cridge, A. G., Hawkins, B. C., & Rosengren, R. J. (2018). Anticancer potential of novel curcumin analogs towards castrate-resistant prostate cancer. International Journal of Oncology, 52(2), 579-588. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2017.4207

Journal - Research Article

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Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology staff profiles

Professor Rhonda Rosengren

Research

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