Biography

Dr Kristina Cook is Principal Investigator of the Translational Radiation Biology and Oncology Group at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research and Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney. She completed her DPhil in Chemical Biology at the University of Oxford as an NIH OxCam Biomedical Research Scholar, including two years at the National Institutes of Health, and previously held postdoctoral roles at UNSW and the Centenary Institute. Dr Cook has published more than 40 peer-reviewed papers, attracted more than 3,000 citations and secured more than $3.5 million in competitive research funding and fellowships. Her work spans tumour hypoxia, oxygen sensing, cancer metabolism, drug discovery and translational oncology, with active collaborations across the University of Sydney, WIMR, Westmead Hospital, and national and international research partners.

Current Research Students:

Amy Hekeik
Neha Bal
Harry Zhou

Research interests

Dr Cook’s research investigates how tumours adapt to low oxygen and how these adaptations drive therapy resistance. Her group focuses on tumour hypoxia, oxygen-sensing pathways, mitochondrial metabolism and radiotherapy response, with a major emphasis on brain tumours including glioblastoma and diffuse midline glioma/diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Using molecular and cellular biology, cancer metabolism, multi-omics approaches and preclinical tumour models, her team identifies vulnerabilities that may improve responses to radiotherapy and other treatments.

brain tumor, glioblastoma, DIPG/DMG, cancer, tumor hypoxia, oxygen sensing

Additional information

Dr Cook completed her DPhil in Chemical Biology at the University of Oxford as an NIH OxCam Biomedical Research Scholar, including two years of research training at the National Institutes of Health in the United States. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology, with a minor in Chemistry, from San Diego State University, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with Distinction in the top 1% of students.

Current projects include targeting mitochondrial metabolism in paediatric brain tumours, studying ADO and other oxygen-sensing enzymes in glioblastoma, mapping hypoxia and radioresistance in various cancers, and developing strategies for more personalised cancer therapy