Staff Profile

Background

I joined Newcastle University as Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Cancer Drug Discovery in 2024. I am a member of the Cancer Research UK Newcastle Drug Discovery Unit (Cancer Research Horizons) and Translational and Clinical Research Institute within the Faculty of Medical Sciences. Additionally, I serve as Executive Board member of the Newcastle Centre for Cancer.

My research focuses on cancer drug discovery, with a particular emphasis on target identification and target validation. I am especially interested in the interplay of the tumour microenvironment and therapeutic interventions, including how fibroblasts influence novel anticancer (immuno-) therapies and how therapies, in turn, affect fibroblast activation.

I obtained a PhD from the Medical University Vienna (Austria), followed by an Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship that enabled me to join the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London (UK). At the ICR I worked with Prof. Clare Isacke to develop syngeneic, spontaneously metastasising breast cancer in vivo models and investigated the metastases-promoting role of cancer-associated fibroblasts. In 2018, I was appointed Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Cancer Biology at the University of Bath where I also chaired the university-wide Cancer Research at Bath network.I was promoted to Senior Lecturer (Associated Professor) in 2023. Since joining Newcastle University, I continue to hold a visiting academic position at the University of Bath.

Areas of Expertise

• Cancer drug discovery (target identification and target validation)
• Tumour microenvironment
• Cell and molecular biology
• In vitro and in vivo cancer (metastases) models

Links to ORCID , SCOPUS , Google Scholar

External roles and memberships

• British Association of Cancer Research (BACR)
• European Association of Cancer Research (EACR, Ambassador)
• UK Biochemical Society
• Austrian Society of Toxicology
• Fellow of Advanced Higher Education (FHEA)
• Editorial board member of the journal 'Discover Oncology' (Spinger Nature Publishing)

Qualifications

Magistra rerum naturalium (integrated Master’s in Chemistry), University Vienna, Austria.

Master of Science in Toxicology, Medical University Vienna, Austria.

PhD (Research program Malignant Diseases), Medical University Vienna, Austria.

Research interests

My research focuses on cancer drug discovery, with a particular emphasis on target identification and target validation. We use computational, cellular and molecular techniques, including CRISPR, to identify and validate potential targets in cancer cells and combine those approaches with phenotypic assays ranging from 2D cancer cell cultures to complex 3D co-culture systems of multiple cell types. I am especially interested in the interplay of the tumour microenvironment and therapeutic interventions, including how fibroblasts influence novel anticancer (immuno-) therapies and how therapies, in turn, affect fibroblast activation.

Selected Publications

Articles

1. Ding X, Tun Thet N, Herdes C, Chaloner E, Negasi M, Kontou I, Laabei M, Jungwirth U, Savage D, Kamran M, Zachariadis M, Jenkins T, Davidson MG, Leese HS. Janus electrospun nanofiber membranes from bio-based furan polyamides for antibacterial wound care. Bioactive Materials 2026, 65, 1043-1055.
2. Huynh L, Aljohani A, Alsubaiti A, Grant T, Chapman A, Phillips G, Chamberlain J, Hayward-Wills A, Jungwirth U, Salio M, Holland CJ, Wülfing C. ImmTACs overcome cytotoxic T cell suppression. Immunotherapy Advances 2026.
3. Mueller S, de Andrade Krätzig N, Tschurtschenthaler M, Silva M, Thordsen C, Trozzo R, Simon P, Saab F, Kaltenbacher T, Zukowska M, Lucarelli D, Öllinger R, Griger J, Grosz N, Groll T, Löprich J, Zaurito A, Schömig L, Bugter J, Bärthel S, Falcomatà C, Strong A, Brandt C, Najajreh M, Papargyriou A, Maresch R, Collins K, Sailer D, Schneeweis C, Burger S, Fröhlich L, Klement C, Belka A, Montero J, Jungwirth U, Reichert M, Moser M, Neumann J, Vassiliou G, Cadiñanos J, Varela I, Marr C, Alonso D, Lollini P, Zhao J, Chesler L, Isacke C, Riedel A, Braun C, Sos M, Beleggia F, Reinhardt H, Musteanu M, Barbacid M, Quante M, Schmidt-Supprian M, Schneider G, Clare S, Lawley T, Dougan G, Steiger K, Conte N, Bradley A, Rad L, Saur D, Rad R. A disease model resource reveals core principles of tissue-specific cancer evolution. Nature 2026, 653(8113), 265-276.
4. Grimaldos Rodriguez C, Rimmer EF, Colleypriest B, Tosh D, Slack JMW, Jungwirth U. Ectopic expression of HNF4α in Het1A cells induces an invasive phenotype. Differentiation 2023, 134, 1-10.
5. Keirouz A, Mustafa YL, Turner JG, Lay E, Jungwirth U, Marken F, Leese HS. Conductive Polymer-Coated 3D Printed Microneedles: Biocompatible Platforms for Minimally Invasive Biosensing Interfaces. Small 2023, 19(14), 2206301.
6. Turner JG, Lay E, Jungwirth U, Varenko V, Gill HS, Estrela P, Leese HS. 3D-Printed Hollow Microneedle-Lateral Flow Devices for Rapid Blood-Free Detection of C-Reactive Protein and Procalcitonin. Advanced Materials Technologies 2023, 8(16), 2300259.
7. Jenkins L, Jungwirth U, Avgustinova A, Iravani M, Mills A, Haider S, Harper J, Isacke CM. Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Suppress CD8+ T-cell Infiltration and Confer Resistance to Immune-Checkpoint Blockade. Cancer Research 2022, 82(16), 2904-2917.
8. Jungwirth U, van Weverwijk A, Evans RJ, Jenkins L, Vicente D, Alexander J, Gao Q, Haider S, Iravani M, Isacke CM. Impairment of a distinct cancer-associated fibroblast population limits tumour growth and metastasis. Nature Communications 2021, 12(1), 3516.
9. van Weverwijk A, Koundouros N, Iravani M, Ashenden M, Gao Q, Poulogiannis G, Jungwirth U, Isacke CM. Metabolic adaptability in metastatic breast cancer by AKR1B10-dependent balancing of glycolysis and fatty acid oxidation. Nature Communications 2019, 10(1), -.
10. Jungwirth U, Van Weverwijk A, Melake MJ, Chambers AF, Gao Q, Fivaz M, Isacke CM. Generation and characterisation of two D2A1 mammary cancer sublines to model spontaneous and experimental metastasis in a syngeneic BALB/c host. DMM Disease Models and Mechanisms 2018, 11(1), -.
11. Jungwirth U, Gojo J, Tuder T, Walko G, Holcmann M, Schofl T, Nowikovsky K, Wilfinger N, Schoonhoven S, Kowol CR, Lemmens-Gruber R, Heffeter P, Keppler BK, Berger W. Calpain-mediated integrin deregulation as a novel mode of action for the anticancer gallium compound KP46. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2014, 13(10), 2436-2449.

Review

1. Howard A, Bojko J, Flynn B, Bowen S, Jungwirth U, Walko G. Targeting the Hippo/YAP/TAZ signalling pathway: Novel opportunities for therapeutic interventions into skin cancers. Experimental Dermatology 2022, 31(10), 1477-1499.

Teaching and supervision

Supervisor of

• PhD and MRes students
• Undergraduate final year project students

Teaching

Module lead MRes course MMB8006, Drug Discovery and Development

• Articles

  • Ding X, Tun Thet N, Herdes C, Chaloner E, Negasi M, Kontou I, Laabei M, Jungwirth U, Savage D, Kamran M, Zachariadis M, Jenkins T, Davidson MG, Leese HS. Janus electrospun nanofiber membranes from bio-based furan polyamides for antibacterial wound care. Bioactive Materials 2026, 65, 1043-1055.
  • Huynh L, Aljohani A, Alsubaiti A, Grant T, Chapman A, Phillips G, Chamberlain J, Hayward-Wills A, Jungwirth U, Salio M, Holland CJ, Wülfing C. ImmTACs overcome cytotoxic T cell suppression. Immunotherapy Advances 2026, Epub ahead of print.
  • Mueller, S, de Andrade Krätzig, N, Tschurtschenthaler, M, Silva, M, Thordsen, C, Trozzo, R, Simon, P, Saab, F, Kaltenbacher, T, Zukowska, M, Lucarelli, D, Öllinger, R, Griger, J, Grosz, N, Groll, T, Löprich, J, Zaurito, A, Schömig, L, Bugter, J, Bärthel, S, Falcomatà, C, Strong, A, Brandt, C, Najajreh, M, Papargyriou, A, Maresch, R, Collins, K, Sailer, D, Schneeweis, C, Burger, S, Fröhlich, L, Klement, C, Belka, A, Montero, J, Jungwirth, U, Reichert, M, Moser, M, Neumann, J, Vassiliou, G, Cadiñanos, J, Varela, I, Marr, C, Alonso, D, Lollini, P, Zhao, J, Chesler, L, Isacke, C, Riedel, A, Braun, C, Sos, M, Beleggia, F, Reinhardt, H, Musteanu, M, Barbacid, M, Quante, M, Schmidt-Supprian, M, Schneider, G, Clare, S, Lawley, T, Dougan, G, Steiger, K, Conte, N, Bradley, A, Rad, L, Saur, D, Rad, R. A disease model resource reveals core principles of tissue-specific cancer evolution. Nature 2026, 653(8113), 265-276. In Preparation.

• Review