
Overview
Background
Peter Simpson is a recognised expert in the molecular and pathological characterisation of breast and lung cancers. His research is based at the UQ Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR), where he is the Head of the Cancer Theme and is a Research Group Leader in Cancer Genomics. He has published >150 articles (>12,000 citations, H-index 52; Scopus, May2025) including in Nature, Nature Medicine, Annals of Oncology and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. He co-manages the Brisbane Breast Bank (BBB), a tissue bank created to facilitate clinical breast cancer research, and the Debutant lung cancer Program.
Pete also holds a teaching appointment in UQ, where he is passionate about the science and clinical applications of Pathology. He teaches into the UQ Medical Program (Year 1 and 2), as well as to undergraduates. He has co-authored a chapter ‘Breast Diseases’ in the latest edition (11th) of the internationally acclaimed Medical text book Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease.
Outside UQ, Pete is a Fellow of the Faculty of Science in the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (FFSc RCPA), a member of the kConFab Executive (https://www.kconfab.org/), a member of the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance Scientific Advisory Board (https://lobularbreastcancer.org/), and a member of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (Breast Cancer group).
Pete enjoys supervising students at all levels in their careers and collaborating within multidisciplinary teams spanning clinical (e.g. pathology, oncology) and science teams (e.g. in ‘omics, bioinformatics and machine learning).
Availability
- Associate Professor Peter Simpson is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Liverpool
Research interests
-
Broad Research Program
Cancer is a very heterogeneous disease, making morphological classification and management of patients a significant challenge. Despite great advances it remains difficult to predict which patients are at risk of their disease returning (recurrence), spreading (metastasis) or which patients will gain most benefit to specific therapies. There has therefore been a concerted effort to supplement the morphological classification of disease with molecular data that can provide a clearer appreciation for this complexity and better predict tumour behaviour. This ideology has driven significant advancements in the field of molecular pathology research. My research program embraces these advances in technology to help better understand mechanisms of disease development and progression and help improve the molecular aspects of diagnosis and patient management. Themes of research involve 1) invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast, 2) breast cancer diagnosed in young individuals, and 3) lung cancer.
-
Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) is the most commonly diagnosed ‘special’ morphological type of breast cancer, comprising up to 15% of all cases. The most important biological feature of lobular breast cancer is the functional loss of cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin. This is the glue that holds epithelial cells together. Loss of E-cadherin leads to a growth pattern that can be diffuse and highly invasive through the breast tissue. This leads to a number of important clinical challenges with diagnosing and managing this cancer: the cancer can be hard to palpate or detect by mammographic screening and hard to fully excise during surgery; if the cancer spreads it can again be hard to detect. A large component of Peter's research focuses on aspects of this specific cancer subtype, including understanding molecular determinants that predict tumour behaviour and prognosis, and mechanisms of invasion and metastasis.
-
Familial Breast Cancer
Family history is a significant risk factor for the development of breast cancer, often leading to early diagnosis of disease. For some families, the genetic component of this risk is well understood and attributed to pathogenic germline variants in moderate-high risk genes (e.g. BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, TP53, ATM, CHEK2). For many families the underlying genetic risk is unknown. Further, some individuals develop breast cancer at a young age when they have no family history. We study clinical samples using a variety of molecular profiling techniques, including whole genome sequencing and digital spatial transcriptomics, and we are interested in understanding the germline and somatic molecular mechanism that contribute to the development of disease. This work is a collaboration with several tissue banks: kConFab, the BBB and the Australian Breast Cancer Tissue Bank.
-
Lung Cancer Diagnostics
Lung Cancer has the highest mortality of all cancers. Most cases are diagnosed at an advance, inoperable stage and so are associated with a poor prognosis. Endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) sampling is an important procedure to make a tissue diagnosis of disease and to provide specimens for molecular testing. Next generation sequencing is an important component of diagnostic practice and therapeutic decision making for lung cancer patients. Our program of work is focused on optimising molecular testing strategies from different types of cancer samples (tissue, supernatant, cfDNA) to improve the success of testing for patients. This is a collaboration with A/Prof David Fielding (https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/9060) from the Department of Thoracic Medicine (RBWH), plus colleagues from Pathology Queensland, QIMR Berghofer and a network of hospitals around Australia.
Research impacts
Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in women worldwide and consequently is the biggest contributor to morbidity and mortality from cancer.
My work in the field of breast cancer genomics has sought to unravel molecular mechanisms driving the evolution of disease, from early lesions through to treatment resistance and metastatic progression. Our work uses various types of ‘omics applications, including whole genome sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, married with detailed cancer morphology assessment. Gene mutations and mutational signature analysis in the context of sporadic and familial breast cancer has revealed pathogenic germline mutations, different mechanisms of genomic evolution and clonal heterogeneity. The work through the International Cancer Genome Consortium contributed to the development of HRDetect (Nature Medicine) for therapeutic decision making.
My work in lobular breast cancer has an international standing. As a research community, we aim to raise the profile of lobular breast cancer as an important, common and yet understudied type of breast cancer. We have demonstrated this disease is in fact a heterogenous subtype, exhibiting morphological variants and diverse genomic features. We developed LobSig as a potential prognostic tool for lobular breast cancer, which is undergoing further validation. We have a program of work to better understand the biology of disease and identify tissue- and blood-based biomarkers of disease progression.
Lung cancer is the highest mortality rate of all cancers worldwide. The Debutant lung cancer clinical research program was established in 2018 and has sought to optimise and expand lung cancer molecular testing applications. The work has been funded by various sources, including Pathology Queensland, Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital Foundation, Cancer Council Qld, Cancer Australia, Australian Genomics and the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). The work has demonstrated the clinical utility of very small cytology samples and blood (cfDNA) samples using comprehensive genomic assays. The translation of results from this Program could significantly enhance the number of patients eligible for targeted therapies.
Works
Search Professor Peter Simpson’s works on UQ eSpace
2015
Journal Article
Personalised pathway analysis reveals association between DNA repair pathway dysregulation and chromosomal instability in sporadic breast cancer
Liu, Chao, Srihari, Sriganesh, Lal, Samir, Gautier, Benoit, Simpson, Peter T., Khanna, Kum Kum, Ragan, Mark A. and LeCao, Kim-Anh (2015). Personalised pathway analysis reveals association between DNA repair pathway dysregulation and chromosomal instability in sporadic breast cancer. Molecular Oncology, 10 (1), 179-193. doi: 10.1016/j.molonc.2015.09.007
2015
Journal Article
Using the MCF10A/MCF10CA1a Breast Cancer Progression Cell Line Model to Investigate the Effect of Active, Mutant Forms of EGFR in Breast Cancer Development and Treatment Using Gefitinib
Bessette, Darrell C., Tilch, Erik, Seidens, Tatjana, Quinn, Michael C. J., Wiegmans, Adrian P., Shi, Wei, Cocciardi, Sibylle, McCart-Reed, Amy, Saunus, Jodi M., Simpson, Peter T., Grimmond, Sean M., Lakhani, Sunil R., Khanna, Kum Kum, Waddell, Nic, Al-Ejeh, Fares and Chevenvix-Trench, Georgia (2015). Using the MCF10A/MCF10CA1a Breast Cancer Progression Cell Line Model to Investigate the Effect of Active, Mutant Forms of EGFR in Breast Cancer Development and Treatment Using Gefitinib. PLoS One, 10 (5) e0125232, e0125232-e0125232. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0125232
2015
Journal Article
Frequent somatic transfer of mitochondrial DNA into the nuclear genome of human cancer cells
Ju, Young Seok, Tubio, Jose M.C, Mifsud, William, Fu, Beiyuan, Davies, Helen R, Ramakrishna, Manasa, Li, Yilong, Yates, Lucy, Gundem, Gunes, Tarpey, Patrick S, Behjati, Sam, Papaemmanuil, Elli, Martin, Sancha, Fullam, Anthony, Gerstung, Moritz, Nangalia, Jyoti, Green, Anthony R, Caldas, Carlos, Borg, Ake, Tutt, Andrew, Michael Lee, Ming Ta, Van'T Veer, Laura J, Tan, Benita K.T, Aparicio, Samuel, Span, Paul N, Martens, John W.M, Knappskog, Stian, Vincent-Salomon, Ann, Borresen-Dale, Anne-Lise ... Simpson, Peter (2015). Frequent somatic transfer of mitochondrial DNA into the nuclear genome of human cancer cells. Genome Research, 25 (6), 814-824. doi: 10.1101/gr.190470.115
2015
Journal Article
Heregulin-HER3-HER2 signaling promotes matrix metalloproteinase-dependent blood-brain-barrier transendothelial migration of human breast cancer cell lines
Momeny, Majid, Saunus, Jodi M., Marturana, Flavia, McCart Reed, Amy E., Black, Debra, Sala, Gianluca, Iacobelli, Stefano, Holland, Jane D., Yu, Dihua, Da Silva, Leonard, Simpson, Peter T., Khanna, Kum Kum, Chenevix-Trench, Georgia and Lakhani, Sunil R. (2015). Heregulin-HER3-HER2 signaling promotes matrix metalloproteinase-dependent blood-brain-barrier transendothelial migration of human breast cancer cell lines. Oncotarget, 6 (6), 3932-3946. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.2846
2015
Journal Article
Invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: morphology, biomarkers and 'omics
McCart Reed, Amy E., Kutasovic, Jamie R., Lakhani, Sunil R. and Simpson, Peter T. (2015). Invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: morphology, biomarkers and 'omics. Breast Cancer Research, 17 (12) 12, 1-11. doi: 10.1186/s13058-015-0519-x
2015
Conference Publication
Erk5 as a therapeutic target in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC)
Miranda, Mariska Sauzine, Al Ejeh, Fares, Shi, Wei, Simpson, Peter, Lakhani, Sunil and Khanna, Kum Kum (2015). Erk5 as a therapeutic target in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). 37th Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, San Antonio, TX, United States, 9-13 December 2014. Philadelphia, PA, United States: American Association for Cancer Research. doi: 10.1158/1538-7445.SABCS14-P6-03-11
2015
Conference Publication
Flipping pathology and its impact on learning in second year medical students at University of Queensland, School of Medicine, Australia
Koteeswaran, Raja, Deborah Smith, Ekta Bhutada, Simpson, Peter T., Emma Bartle, Julie Elizabeth Ayre, Galea, Melanie, Joanne Lester, Bowker, Shari and Lakhani, Sunil (2015). Flipping pathology and its impact on learning in second year medical students at University of Queensland, School of Medicine, Australia. The 2015 AAMC Medical Education Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 10-12 November 2015.
2015
Conference Publication
Genomic and transcriptomic landscapes of human brain metastases
Saunus, J. M., Quinn, M. C. J., Patch, A. M., Pearson, J. V., Bailey, P. J., Cloonan, N., Nones, K., Miller, D., Mariasegaram, M., Lau, Q., Jeffree, L., Khanna, K. K., Chenevix-Trench, G., Grimmond, S. M., Simpson, P. T., Waddell, N. and Lakhani, S. R. (2015). Genomic and transcriptomic landscapes of human brain metastases. 15th International Biennial Congress of the Metastasis Research Society, Heidelberg, Germany, June 28th–July 1st, 2014. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Netherlands. doi: 10.1007/s10585-015-9708-3
2015
Conference Publication
Exploring the HER3 tyrosine kinase as a therapeutic target for treatment of brain metastases
Saunus, Jodi M., Momeny, Majid, Da Silva, Leonard, Reid, Lynne, Holland, Jane D., Birchmeier, Walter, Jat, Parmjit, Brandner, Sebastian, Al-Ejeh, Fares, Khanna, Kum Kum, Chenevix-Trench, Georgia, Simpson, Peter T. and Lakhani, Sunil R. (2015). Exploring the HER3 tyrosine kinase as a therapeutic target for treatment of brain metastases. 15th International Biennial Congress of the Metastasis Research Society, Heidelberg, Germany, 28 June - 01 July 2014. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/s10585-015-9708-3
2015
Journal Article
ID4 controls mammary stem cells and marks breast cancers with a stem cell-like phenotype
Junankar, Simon, Baker, Laura A., Roden, Daniel L., Nair, Radhika, Elsworth, Ben, Gallego-Ortega, David, Lacaze, Paul, Cazet, Aurelie, Nikolic, Iva, Teo, Wee Siang, Yang, Jessica, McFarland, Andrea, Harvey, Kate, Naylor, Matthew J., Lakhani, Sunil R., Simpson, Peter T., Raghavendra, Ashwini, Saunus, Jodi, Madore, Jason, Kaplan, Warren, Ormandy, Christopher, Millar, Ewan K. A., O'Toole, Sandra, Yun, Kyuson and Swarbrick, Alexander (2015). ID4 controls mammary stem cells and marks breast cancers with a stem cell-like phenotype. Nature Communications, 6 (1) 6548, 6548.1-6548.12. doi: 10.1038/ncomms7548
2015
Conference Publication
Breast cancer metastasis to gynaecological organs: impacting young women diagnosed with a luminal tumour subtype
Kutasovic, Jamie, Reed, Amy McCart, Sim, Sarah, Cummings, Margaret, Lakhani, Sunil and Simpson, Peter (2015). Breast cancer metastasis to gynaecological organs: impacting young women diagnosed with a luminal tumour subtype. 15th International Biennial Congress of the Metastasis Research Society, Heidelberg, Germany, June 28th–July 1st, 2014. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Netherlands. doi: 10.1007/s10585-015-9708-3
2015
Conference Publication
The role of epithelial to mesenchymal plasticity in driving the invasive capacity of 'lobular-like' tumour cell differentiation in breast cancer
Reed, McCart A. E., Kutasovic, J. R., Vargas, A. C., Da Silva, L., Jayanthan, J., Al-Murrani, A., Reid, L. E., Evans, E., Porter, A., Lakhani, S. R. and Simpson, P. T. (2015). The role of epithelial to mesenchymal plasticity in driving the invasive capacity of 'lobular-like' tumour cell differentiation in breast cancer. 15th International Biennial Congress of the Metastasis Research Society, Heidelberg, Germany, June 28th–July 1st, 2014. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Netherlands. doi: 10.1007/s10585-015-9708-3
2014
Journal Article
Complex-based analysis of dysregulated cellular processes in cancer
Srihari, Sriganesh, Madhamshettiwar, Piyush B., Song, Sarah, Liu, Chao, Simpson, Peter T., Khanna, Kumkum and Ragan, Mark A. (2014). Complex-based analysis of dysregulated cellular processes in cancer. BMC Systems Biology, 8 (Supplement 4) S1. doi: 10.1186/1752-0509-8-S4-S1
2014
Journal Article
Genomic catastrophes frequently arise in esophageal adenocarcinoma and drive tumorigenesis
Nones, Katia, Waddell, Nicola, Wayte, Nicci, Patch, Ann-Marie, Bailey, Peter, Newell, Felicity, Holmes, Oliver, Fink, J. Lynn, Quinn, Michael C. J., Tang, Yue Hang, Lampe, Guy, Quek, Kelly, Loffler, Kelly A., Manning, Suzanne, Idrisoglu, Senel, Miller, David, Xu, Qinying, Waddell, Nick, Wilson, Peter J., Bruxner, Timothy J. C., Christ, Angelika N., Harliwong, Ivon, Nourse, Craig, Nourbakhsh, Ehsan, Anderson, Matthew, Kazakoff, Stephen, Leonard, Conrad, Wood, Scott, Simpson, Peter T. ... Barbour, Andrew P. (2014). Genomic catastrophes frequently arise in esophageal adenocarcinoma and drive tumorigenesis. Nature Communications, 5 (1) 6224, 5224.1-5224.9. doi: 10.1038/ncomms6224
2014
Journal Article
Erratum: Meta-analysis of the global gene expression profile of triple-negative breast cancer identifies genes for the prognostication and treatment of aggressive breast cancer
Al-Ejeh, F, Simpson, P T, Saunus, J M, Klein, K, Kalimutho, M, Shi, W, Miranda, M, Kutasovic, J, Raghavendra, A, Madore, J, Reid, L, Krause, L, Chenevix-Trench, G, Lakhani, S R and Khanna, K K (2014). Erratum: Meta-analysis of the global gene expression profile of triple-negative breast cancer identifies genes for the prognostication and treatment of aggressive breast cancer. Oncogenesis, 3 (10) e124, e124-e124. doi: 10.1038/oncsis.2014.41
2014
Journal Article
Runx2 is a novel regulator of mammary epithelial cell fate in development and breast cancer
Owens, Thomas W., Rogers, Renee L., Best, Sarah A., Ledger, Anita, Mooney, Anne-Marie, Ferguson, Alison, Shore, Paul, Swarbrick, Alexander, Ormandy, Christopher J., Simpson, Peter T., Carroll, Jason S., Visvader, Jane E. and Naylor, Matthew J. (2014). Runx2 is a novel regulator of mammary epithelial cell fate in development and breast cancer. Cancer Research, 74 (18), 5277-5286. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-0053
2014
Journal Article
Extensive transduction of nonrepetitive DNA mediated by L1 retrotransposition in cancer genomes
Tubio, Jose M. C., Li, Yilong, Ju, Young S., Martincorena, Inigo, Cooke, Susanna L., Tojo, Marta, Gundem, Gunes, Pipinikas, Christodoulos P., Zamora, Jorge, Raine, Keiran, Menzies, Andrew, Roman-Garcia, Pablo, Fullam, Anthony, Gerstung, Moritz, Shlien, Adam, Tarpey, Patrick S., Papaemmanuil, Elli, Knappskog, Stian, Van Loo, Peter, Ramakrishna, Manasa, Davies, Helen R., Marshall, John, Wedge, David C., Teague, Jon W., Butler, Adam P., Nik-Zainal, Serena, Alexandrov, Ludmil, Behjati, Sam, Yates, Lucy R. ... Simpson, Peter (2014). Extensive transduction of nonrepetitive DNA mediated by L1 retrotransposition in cancer genomes. Science, 345 (6196) 1251343, 1251343.1-1251343.12. doi: 10.1126/science.1251343
2014
Journal Article
Intratumour heterogeneity in the progression to breast cancer metastasis
Kutasovic, Jamie R., Sim, Sarah Y. M., McCart Reed, Amy E., Cummings, Margaret C. and Simpson, Peter T. (2014). Intratumour heterogeneity in the progression to breast cancer metastasis. Cancer Forum, 38 (2), 138-142.
2014
Journal Article
Molecular classification of breast cancer
Vuong, Darina, Simpson, Peter T., Green, Benjamin, Cummings, Margaret C. and Lakhani, Sunil R. (2014). Molecular classification of breast cancer. Virchows Archiv, 465 (1), 1-14. doi: 10.1007/s00428-014-1593-7
2014
Journal Article
A fine-scale dissection of the DNA double-strand break repair machinery and its implications for breast cancer therapy
Liu, Chao, Srihari, Sriganesh, Le Cao, Kim-Anh, Chenevix-Trench, Georgia, Simpson, Peter T., Ragan, Mark A. and Khanna, Kum Kum (2014). A fine-scale dissection of the DNA double-strand break repair machinery and its implications for breast cancer therapy. Nucleic Acids Research, 42 (10), 6106-6127. doi: 10.1093/nar/gku284
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Peter Simpson is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Master Philosophy
Applications of Molecular Genetics in Translational Breast Cancer Research
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Amy McCart Reed, Professor Sunil Lakhani
-
Doctor Philosophy
Developing optimal transport models for spatial and single cell data to understand cancer progression
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jessica Mar, Dr Quan Nguyen
-
Doctor Philosophy
Circulating biomarkers in invasive lobular breast carcinoma
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Sunil Lakhani, Associate Professor Amy McCart Reed
-
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating therapeutic vulnerabilities in breast cancer.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Sunil Lakhani, Associate Professor Amy McCart Reed
-
Doctor Philosophy
Breast cancer metastasis prediction via machine learning and spatial cellular pathology
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nan Ye, Dr Quan Nguyen
Completed supervision
-
2025
Doctor Philosophy
Studies on the utility of Endobronchial Ultrasound Transbronchial Needle Aspiration (EBUS TBNA) samples in novel investigations of lung cancer genomics, and immune responses
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Sunil Lakhani
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Multi-omics: Leveraging omics data integration to identify dysregulated biology in breast cancer
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Amy McCart Reed, Dr Katia Nones
-
2018
Doctor Philosophy
Genomic and transcriptomic biomarkers of prognosis in invasive lobular breast cancer.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Amy McCart Reed, Professor Sunil Lakhani
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
Intratumour heterogeneity in the development and progression of breast cancer
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Amy McCart Reed, Professor Sunil Lakhani
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
Computational analysis of DNA repair pathways in breast cancer
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Honorary Professor Kum Kum Khanna
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
Identification of new prognostic biomarker for triple negative breast cancer
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jodi Saunus, Professor Sunil Lakhani
-
2013
Doctor Philosophy
A Search For Novel Cancer Susceptibility Genes
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Sunil Lakhani, Professor Melissa Brown
-
2013
Doctor Philosophy
Clinical-Pathological and Molecular Analysis to Understand Breast Cancer Progression
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Sunil Lakhani
Media
Enquiries
Contact Associate Professor Peter Simpson directly for media enquiries about their areas of expertise.
Need help?
For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team: