Overview
Background
Dr Nicholas Fletcher is a research-focused academic driving studies in the radiobiology and radiopharmaceutical development space. He is based within the Centre for Advanced Imaging (CAI) at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) where he is the Radiobiology Theme Leader. He was awarded a 2023 Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship to support his projects focussed on understanding biological impacts and immunological responses to radiopharmaceuticals in collaboration with his industry partner Advancell.
Dr Fletcher and his growing team work across a range of projects, from devising and producing novel nanomedicines and targeting approaches for nanomedicines through to advanced molecular imaging approaches to probe biological responses to therapeutic interventions at unprecedented scale. To support this, he has worked to establish the Radiobiology Facility at the CAI, bringing together a nationally unique facility with capabilities that sit within only a handful of locations globally. This has enables him and his team to probe nuanced biological responses using approaches simply untenable elsewhere.
He has recent funding successes in ARC Linkage Grants so support ongoing research programs and works alongside the ARC Research Hub for Advanced Manufacture of Targeted Radiopharmaceuticals.
Availability
- Dr Nick Fletcher is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Bachelor, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research impacts
Dr Fletcher’s research spans both traditional academic research outputs and collaborative industry programs. To date this has resulted in >60 publications, >25 industry contracts and his translational work has laid the foundation for the initiation of 3 clinical trials.
Works
Search Professor Nick Fletcher’s works on UQ eSpace
2020
Conference Publication
Canine PET/CT imaging with 64Cu-nanomedicines
Daniel, Sarah, Houston, Zachary, Fletcher, Nicholas, Bell, Craig, Atcheson, Nicole, Al-Najjar, Aiman, Howard, Christopher, Mahler, Stephen, Straw, Rod and Thurecht, Kristofer (2020). Canine PET/CT imaging with 64Cu-nanomedicines. SNMMI Annual Meeting, Online, 11-14 July, 2020. Reston, VA, United States: Society of Nuclear Medicine.
2020
Journal Article
Synthesis of biscarboxylic acid functionalised EDTA mimicking polymers and their ability to form Zr(iv) chelation mediated nanostructures
Leiske, Meike N., Walker, Julia A., Zia, Aadarash, Fletcher, Nicholas L., Thurecht, Kristofer J., Davis, Thomas P. and Kempe, Kristian (2020). Synthesis of biscarboxylic acid functionalised EDTA mimicking polymers and their ability to form Zr(iv) chelation mediated nanostructures. Polymer Chemistry, 11 (16), 2799-2810. doi: 10.1039/d0py00304b
2020
Journal Article
Understanding the uptake of nanomedicines at different stages of brain cancer using a modular nanocarrier platform and precision bispecific antibodies
Houston, Zachary H., Bunt, Jens, Chen, Kok-Siong, Puttick, Simon, Howard, Christopher B., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Fuchs, Adrian V., Cui, Jiwei, Ju, Yi, Cowin, Gary, Song, Xin, Boyd, Andrew W., Mahler, Stephen M., Richards, Linda J., Caruso, Frank and Thurecht, Kristofer J. (2020). Understanding the uptake of nanomedicines at different stages of brain cancer using a modular nanocarrier platform and precision bispecific antibodies. ACS Central Science, 6 (5) acscentsci.9b01299, 727-738. doi: 10.1021/acscentsci.9b01299
2020
Journal Article
Direct comparison of poly(ethylene glycol) and phosphorylcholine drug-loaded nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo
Noy, Janina-Miriam, Chen, Fan, Akhter, Dewan T., Houston, Zachary H., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Thurecht, Kristofer J. and Stenzel, Martina H. (2020). Direct comparison of poly(ethylene glycol) and phosphorylcholine drug-loaded nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo. Biomacromolecules, 21 (6) acs.biomac.0c00257, 2320-2333. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c00257
2020
Journal Article
Investigation of the therapeutic potential of a synergistic delivery system through dual controlled release of camptothecin-doxorubicin
Zhao, Yongmei, Fletcher, Nicholas L., Gemmell, Anna, Houston, Zachary H., Howard, Christopher B., Blakey, Idriss, Liu, Tianqing and Thurecht, Kristofer J. (2020). Investigation of the therapeutic potential of a synergistic delivery system through dual controlled release of camptothecin-doxorubicin. Advanced Therapeutics, 3 (6) 1900202, 1900202. doi: 10.1002/adtp.201900202
2020
Journal Article
Oral delivery of multicompartment nanomedicines for colorectal cancer therapeutics: combining loco-regional delivery with cell-target specificity
Akhter, Dewan T., Simpson, Joshua D., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Houston, Zachary H., Fuchs, Adrian V., Bell, Craig A. and Thurecht, Kristofer J. (2020). Oral delivery of multicompartment nanomedicines for colorectal cancer therapeutics: combining loco-regional delivery with cell-target specificity. Advanced Therapeutics, 3 (2) ARTN 1900171, 1900171. doi: 10.1002/adtp.201900171
2020
Journal Article
Targeted and modular architectural polymers employing bioorthogonal chemistry for quantitative therapeutic delivery
Ediriweera, Gayathri R., Simpson, Joshua D., Fuchs, Adrian V., Venkatachalam, Taracad K., Van De Walle, Matthias, Howard, Christopher B., Mahler, Stephen M., Blinco, James P., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Houston, Zachary H., Bell, Craig A. and Thurecht, Kristofer J. (2020). Targeted and modular architectural polymers employing bioorthogonal chemistry for quantitative therapeutic delivery. Chemical Science, 11 (12), 3268-3280. doi: 10.1039/d0sc00078g
2020
Journal Article
Targeted beta therapy of prostate cancer with 177Lu-labelled Miltuximab® antibody against glypican-1 (GPC-1)
Yeh, Mei-Chun, Tse, Brian W. C., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Houston, Zachary H., Lund, Maria, Volpert, Marianna, Stewart, Chelsea, Sokolowski, Kamil A., Jeet, Varinder, Thurecht, Kristofer J., Campbell, Douglas H., Walsh, Bradley J., Nelson, Colleen C. and Russell, Pamela J. (2020). Targeted beta therapy of prostate cancer with 177Lu-labelled Miltuximab® antibody against glypican-1 (GPC-1). EJNMMI Research, 10 (1) 46, 46. doi: 10.1186/s13550-020-00637-x
2019
Journal Article
Poly(2-oxazoline) macromonomers as building blocks for functional and biocompatible polymer architectures
Pizzi, David, Humphries, James, Morrow, Joshua P., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Bell, Craig A., Thurecht, Kristofer J. and Kempe, Kristian (2019). Poly(2-oxazoline) macromonomers as building blocks for functional and biocompatible polymer architectures. European Polymer Journal, 121 109258, 109258. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2019.109258
2019
Journal Article
Polymer design and component selection contribute to uptake, distribution & trafficking behaviours of polyethylene glycol hyperbranched polymers in live MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells
Simpson, Joshua D., Ediriweera, Gayathri R., Howard, Christopher B., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Bell, Craig A. and Thurecht, Kristofer J. (2019). Polymer design and component selection contribute to uptake, distribution & trafficking behaviours of polyethylene glycol hyperbranched polymers in live MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells. Biomaterials Science, 7 (11), 4661-4674. doi: 10.1039/c9bm00957d
2019
Journal Article
Modulating targeting of poly(ethylene glycol) particles to tumor cells using bispecific antibodies
Cui, Jiwei, Ju, Yi, Houston, Zachary H., Glass, Joshua J., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Alcantara, Sheilajen, Dai, Qiong, Howard, Christopher B., Mahler, Stephen M., Wheatley, Adam K., De Rose, Robert, Brannon, Paul T., Paterson, Brett M., Donnelly, Paul S., Thurecht, Kristofer J., Caruso, Frank and Kent, Stephen J. (2019). Modulating targeting of poly(ethylene glycol) particles to tumor cells using bispecific antibodies. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 8 (9) 1801607, e1801607. doi: 10.1002/adhm.201801607
2019
Journal Article
Ultrasound-responsive nanobubbles for enhanced intravitreal drug migration: An ex vivo evaluation
Thakur, Sachin S., Chen, Ying-Shan, Houston, Zachary H., Fletcher, Nicholas, Barnett, Nigel L., Thurecht, Kristofer J., Rupenthal, Ilva D. and Parekh, Harendra S. (2019). Ultrasound-responsive nanobubbles for enhanced intravitreal drug migration: An ex vivo evaluation. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 136, 102-107. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2019.01.014
2019
Journal Article
Bacillus anthracis Protective Antigen Shows High Specificity for a UV Induced Mouse Model of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Crawford, Theo, Fletcher, Nicholas, Veitch, Margaret, Gonzalez Cruz, Jazmina L., Pett, Nicola, Brereton, Ian, Wells, James W., Mobli, Mehdi and Tesiram, Yasvir (2019). Bacillus anthracis Protective Antigen Shows High Specificity for a UV Induced Mouse Model of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Frontiers in Medicine, 6 (FEB) 22, 22. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2019.00022
2019
Journal Article
Importance of polymer length in fructose-based polymeric micelles for an enhanced biological activity
Lu, Mingxia, Chen, Fan, Cao, Cheng, Garvey, Christopher J., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Houston, Zachary H., Lu, Hongxu, Lord, Megan S., Thurecht, Kristofer J. and Stenzel, Martina H. (2019). Importance of polymer length in fructose-based polymeric micelles for an enhanced biological activity. Macromolecules, 52 (2) acs.macromol.8b02381, 477-486. doi: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b02381
2018
Journal Article
RNA interference to enhance radiation therapy: targeting the DNA damage response
Ratnayake, G., Bain, A. L., Fletcher, N., Howard, C. B., Khanna, K. K. and Thurecht, K. J. (2018). RNA interference to enhance radiation therapy: targeting the DNA damage response. Cancer Letters, 439, 14-23. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2018.09.011
2018
Journal Article
Influence of Charge on Hemocompatibility and Immunoreactivity of Polymeric Nanoparticles
Chen, Liyu, Glass, Joshua J., De Rose, Robert, Sperling, Claudia, Kent, Stephen J., Houston, Zachary H., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Rolfe, Barbara E. and Thurecht, Kristofer J. (2018). Influence of Charge on Hemocompatibility and Immunoreactivity of Polymeric Nanoparticles. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 1 (3) acsabm.8b00220, 756-767. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.8b00220
2018
Journal Article
In vivo therapeutic evaluation of polymeric nanomedicines: effect of different targeting peptides on therapeutic efficacy against breast cancer
Zhao, Yongmei, Fletcher, Nicholas L., Liu, Tianqing, Gemmell, Anna C., Houston, Zachary H., Blakey, Idriss and Thurecht, Kristofer J. (2018). In vivo therapeutic evaluation of polymeric nanomedicines: effect of different targeting peptides on therapeutic efficacy against breast cancer. Nanotheranostics, 2 (4), 360-370. doi: 10.7150/ntno.27142
2018
Conference Publication
Targeted beta therapy of human prostate cancer in vivo with Lu-177 labelled MIL-38 antibody against glypican-1 (GPC-1)
Yeh, Mei-Chun, Tse, Brian W. C., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Huston, Zachary H., Stewart, Chelsea, Sokolowski, Kamil, Jeet, Varinder, Wissmueller, Sandra, Thurecht, Kristofer J., Campbell, Douglas H., Walsh, Bradley J., Nelson, Colleen C. and Russell, Pamela J. (2018). Targeted beta therapy of human prostate cancer in vivo with Lu-177 labelled MIL-38 antibody against glypican-1 (GPC-1). 19th Asia-Pacific Prostate Cancer Conference, Brisbane Australia, Aug 22-25, 2018. HOBOKEN: WILEY.
2018
Journal Article
Confinement of therapeutic enzymes in selectively permeable polymer vesicles by Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly (PISA) reduces antibody binding and proteolytic susceptibility
Blackman, Lewis D., Varlas, Spyridon, Arno, Maria C., Houston, Zachary H., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Thurecht, Kristofer J., Hasan, Muhammad, Gibson, Matthew I. and O’Reilly, Rachel K. (2018). Confinement of therapeutic enzymes in selectively permeable polymer vesicles by Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly (PISA) reduces antibody binding and proteolytic susceptibility. ACS Central Science, 4 (6), 718-723. doi: 10.1021/acscentsci.8b00168
2018
Journal Article
Modified organosilica core-shell nanoparticles for stable pH sensing in biological solutions
Robinson, Kye J., Huynh, Gabriel T., Kouskousis, Betty P., Fletcher, Nicholas L., Houston, Zachary H., Thurecht, Kristofer J. and Corrie, Simon R. (2018). Modified organosilica core-shell nanoparticles for stable pH sensing in biological solutions. ACS Sensors, 3 (5), 967-975. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.8b00034
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Nick Fletcher is:
- Available for supervision
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Available projects
-
Radiobiology - Understanding the body's response to radiopharmaceuticals
Targeted radionuclide therapies are undergoing rapid growth as next-generation radiotherapeutics for multiple cancers. Targeted alpha-therapeutics (TATs) in particular are highly potent and outperform current clinical options, representing an opportunity to produce a step change in patient outcomes. Despite international research focus on developing TATs, there remains significant knowledge gaps in understanding associated biological and immunological responses which have key impacts on subsequent efficacy. I have multiple ongoing projects working to addresses this by investigating the interplay between TAT and associated localized cellular, inflammation and immune responses. These projects all fall within my research theme of radiobiology and range from assays in molecular and cellular biology, through to preclinical efficacy and molecular imaging studies to probe all aspects of this research question.
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Targeted nanomedicine radiopharmaceuticals – Next generation treatments for cancer
Molecular radiotherapy (MRT) involves targeted delivery of ionising radiation to trigger localised cell death. Targeted irradiation is achieved using alpha (α) or beta (β-) emitting radionuclides that are incorporated into a radiopharmaceutical. While most MRT research to date has focused on the delivery of β--emitting radionuclides (e.g. 177Lu), growing interest has been focused on α-emitting radionuclides such as 225Ac and 212Pb. Highly ionizing α-particles deposit 100–1000 times greater energy per unit path length than the current clinical standard β- particles, which gives them the ability to produce lethal DNA double-strand breaks within the cell nucleus while reducing the amount of unwanted radiation to surrounding tissues.
Such MRT approaches require a targeting platform to delivery radiotherapeutic payloads. Recently we have demonstrated 212Pb-loaded nanomedicines with excellent efficacy in preclinical models, showing complete tumour regression in many cases. Projects in this space will work on expanding this MRT platform through optimization of materials and dosing regimens as well and producing novel targeting ligands to target a wider range of cancer types. These projects fall within my research theme of nanomedicines and radiopharmaceutical development, involving work ranging from bioengineering and polymer synthesis through to preclinical efficacy and molecular imaging studies to develop potent next-generation nanomedicine radiopharmaceuticals.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Modulating the Mononuclear Phagocyte System for Improved Nanomaterial Delivery
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kristofer Thurecht, Associate Professor Barbara Rolfe
-
Doctor Philosophy
Novel complementary diagnostics for improved therapeutics/theranostics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Craig Bell, Dr Rhia Stone, Professor Kristofer Thurecht
-
Doctor Philosophy
The effect of avidity on nanobody-based formats for theranostic applications
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jodi Saunus, Dr Pie Huda, Professor Kristofer Thurecht
-
Doctor Philosophy
Design of a complex in vitro microfluidic device for the evaluation of polymeric nanoparticles
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kristofer Thurecht
-
Doctor Philosophy
Targeted polymeric radiopharmaceutical as cancer theranostics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kristofer Thurecht
-
Doctor Philosophy
Molecular alpha radiotherapy using nanomaterials mediated via pre-targeting strategy
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kristofer Thurecht
-
Doctor Philosophy
Development of site-specific radiopharmaceuticals using nanotechnology
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kristofer Thurecht
-
Doctor Philosophy
Development of a versatile targeted alpha therapy platform
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor David Owen, Dr Pie Huda
-
Doctor Philosophy
Novel low-fouling biopolymers for biomedical applications
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Whittaker
Completed supervision
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Understanding Immunogenicity in Nanomedicine
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Craig Bell, Dr Pie Huda, Professor Kristofer Thurecht
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Design of pH-sensitive, polymeric nanoparticles, and their application in chemotherapeutic drug delivery
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Craig Bell, Professor Kristofer Thurecht
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Developing nanomedicines for cancer theranostics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kristofer Thurecht
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Biological Interactions of Polymeric Nanomedicines & Molecular Imaging Agents
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Craig Bell, Professor Kristofer Thurecht
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the delivery and mechanisms of novel dementia and glioblastoma therapeutics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kristofer Thurecht
-
2019
Master Philosophy
Radiosensitization of Prostate Cancer by Nanoparticle Mediated RNA Interference
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Honorary Professor Kum Kum Khanna, Dr Christopher Howard, Professor Kristofer Thurecht
Media
Enquiries
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