Sara A. Courtneidge, Ph.D., D.Sc.

  • Professor of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology, School of Medicine
  • Cell and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, School of Medicine
  • Cancer Biology Graduate Program, School of Medicine
  • Program in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, School of Medicine

Biography

Sara A. Courtneidge was born in the UK, and received her B.Sc. from the University of Leeds and her Ph.D. from the National Institute for Medical Research, London. Following postdoctoral study at the University of California, San Francisco, and an independent position at the National Institute for Medical Research, she joined the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany in 1985, where she rose to the position of Senior Scientist. Changing course in 1994, Dr. Courtneidge joined SUGEN Inc., where as Chief Scientist she guided novel kinase discovery and validation efforts in oncology. From 2001-2005 she was Distinguished Scientific Investigator at the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and from 2005-2014 she served as Professor and Director of the Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program, and Director of Academic Affairs, at the Sanford|Burnham Medical Research Institute. She joined OHSU in 2014, where she is an Associate Director of Translational Sciences for the Knight Cancer Institute, a Professor in the Department of Cell, Developmental & Cancer Biology, and a member of the Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine. Dr. Courtneidge’s laboratory has studied the Src family of protein tyrosine kinases for a number of years, and has contributed to the understanding of Src transformation, regulation, substrate selection and function. Currently, her research on Src and it substrates focuses on cancer invasion and metastasis, with particular emphasis on the role of membrane structures called podosomes or invadopodia. She also retains an interest in translational research, with the goal of defining novel therapeutic points of intervention for cancer treatment. Dr. Courtneidge’s contributions to cancer research have been recognized with numerous honors, including election to the European Molecular Biology Organization, the Jubilee Lecture and Harden Medal of the British Biochemical Society, the Feodor Lynen Lecture and Lynen Medal, an honorary doctorate from the University of Leeds, and, most recently, the 2015 AACR-WICR Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship.

Publications

Publications