Professor Minoti Apte, OAM  

MBBS (Hons), MMedSci, PhD  AGAF  FAHMS

Professor of Medicine and Director, Pancreatic Research Group, UNSW Sydney

An internationally renowned medical researcher into pancreatic disease, Professor Minoti Apte’s contribution to the University of New South Wales and the wider community extends well beyond her laboratory. In 2014, she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia and she received the 2015 NSW Premier's Award for Woman of the Year, in recognition of her contribution to medical research, tertiary education and the community. Her work in pancreatic cancer research was recognised with the Professor Rob Sutherland Make a Difference Award presented at part of the Cancer Institute NSW 2016 Premier’s Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research. For her longstanding work in the field of the pancreas, Prof Apte was awarded the Lady Mary Fairfax Distinguished Researcher Award in 2017 by the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, and in 2018 she received the prestigious Distinguished Researcher Prize from the Gastroenterological Society of Australia. This year, she has been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, an achievement attesting to her seminal contributions to the field. 

Prof Apte is particularly recognised for her pioneering work in pancreatic fibrogenesis, having been the first in the world to develop a method to isolate and culture pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs), which are now established as the key players the fibrosis (scar tissue) of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. In collaboration with colleagues at Stanford University and Cedar Sinai Medical Center, Prof Apte is presently spearheading research into alcohol and smoking-induced chronic pancreatitis. Prof Apte’s group were also the first to demonstrate the critical functions of PSCs in cancer progression. She is currently leading pre-clinical studies of a new combination therapy targeting both cancer cells and the surrounding stroma, to help improve treatment outcomes.