Biography
Senior Lecturer, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Dr Newton is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director of the Centre for Neuroendocrinology at the University of Pretoria. She received a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Reading, UK (in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline) and undertook postdoctoral research positions within the MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, UK and the University of Cape Town, South Africa before joining the University of Pretoria.
Her research spans cell biology and in vivo animal studies to human pre-clinical studies and focuses on the molecular functioning and therapeutic potential of neuroendocrine G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). She has a particular interest in unravelling the mechanisms underlying disease-causing genetic mutations in GPCRs, exploring how pathogenic GPCR variants may be informative of novel endocrine signalling pathways and exploring how their dysfunction can be “rescued” using novel small molecules that restore function (pharmacological chaperones).
Dr Newton’s expertise in the field of pharmacological chaperone therapeutics places her in a unique position as one of very few researchers worldwide currently involved in this exciting field. Other research interests include investigation into the role of neuroendocrine GPCRs in cancer initiation/progression and their potential as targets for therapeutic intervention.
