Dr Jenny Fung
Research Fellow
School of Biomedical Sciences
I completed my PhD in 2013 at SBMS, UQ and continued my post-doctoral studies at QIMR-Berghofer and IMB, investigating the genetic control in reproductive disorders, where I investigated the role of gene regulation underlying endometriosis pathogenesis. In 2019, I was appointed in the Woodruff group which studies neuroinflammation, to work on immunotherapy development for cancer, and genomics analyses on brain disease models. My research focuses on understanding the contribution of an individuals’ genetic background to disease immunity. The primary objective of my projects is to discover target genes and putative pathways underlying disease progression, with an ultimate goal to develop potential effective drugs for reproductive and brain disorders.
Researcher biography
Dr Jenny Fung is a senior postdoctoral research fellow and lecturer of pharmacology course at the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBMS), UQ. She is an emerging researcher in the reproductive disease field with experience in molecular biology techniques, genetics, functional genomics, statistical and high-throughput computational skills, ex-vivo and in-vivo models of diseases, as well as industry engagement. In 2013, she was awarded a PhD at UQ and continued post-doctoral research in Professor Grant Montgomery's laboratory at QIMRB and IMB, in the field of genetics and genomics with a focus on functional genomics studies in complex diseases and a special interest in endometriosis. Her research has led to the seminal publication identifying the genetics of gene expression in endometrium and the role of gene regulation underlying endometriosis-related pathogenesis. In 2019, she joined Professor Trent Woodruff's laboratory at SBMS, UQ to work on immunotherapy development for cancer through funding from Pfizer, where she performed immune cell functional assays and genomics analyses. Dr Fung is in a unique position to perform both the wet and dry lab components of multi-disciplinary research. She is currently co-leading multiple projects, where she is contributing her expertise on genetics and functional genomics on immunology to discover target genes and putative pathways underlying disease progression, with an ultimate goal to develop potential effective drugs for reproductive and brain disorders.
Book Chapters
Lee, John D., Lo, Martin W., Fung, Jenny N. T. and Woodruff, Trent M. (2022). Neuroinflammation in Huntington’s. Neurodegenerative Diseases Biomarkers. (pp. 215-233) edited by Philip V. Peplow, Bridget Martinez and Thomas A. Gennarelli. New York, NY, United States: Springer US. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1712-0_9
Lee, Sang Hong, Sapkota, Yadav, Fung, Jenny and Montgomery, Grant W. (2017). Genetic biomarkers for endometriosis. Biomarkers for Endometriosis: State of the Art. (pp. 83-93) edited by Thomas D'Hooghe. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-59856-7_5
Fung, Jenny N.T. and Chen, Chen (2012). Endometrial cancer: diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Horizons in cancer research. Volume 49. (pp. 1-32) edited by Hiroto S. Watanabe. Hauppauge, NY, USA: Nova Publishers.
Journal Articles
Chen, Hsiao-Jou Cortina, Spiers, Jereme G., Lerskiatiphanich, Titaya, Parker, Sandra E., Lavidis, Nickolas A., Fung, Jenny N., Woodruff, Trent M. and Lee, John D. (2024). Complement C5a receptor signaling alters stress responsiveness and modulates microglia following chronic stress exposure. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, 4 (3) 100306, 100306. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2024.100306
Li, Xaria X., Fung, Jenny N., Clark, Richard J., Lee, John D. and Woodruff, Trent M. (2024). Cell-intrinsic C5a synergizes with Dectin-1 in macrophages to mediate fungal killing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121 (5), e2314627121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2314627121
Teh, W. T., Chung, J., Holdsworth-Carson, S. J., Donoghue, J. F., Healey, M., Rees, H. C., Bittinger, S., Obers, V., Sloggett, C., Kendarsari, R., Fung, J. N., Mortlock, S., Montgomery, G. W., Girling, J. E. and Rogers, P. A. W. (2023). A molecular staging model for accurately dating the endometrial biopsy. Nature Communications, 14 (1) 6222, 6222. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41979-z
Rahmioglu, Nilufer, Mortlock, Sally, Ghiasi, Marzieh, Møller, Peter L., Stefansdottir, Lilja, Galarneau, Geneviève, Turman, Constance, Danning, Rebecca, Law, Matthew H., Sapkota, Yadav, Christofidou, Paraskevi, Skarp, Sini, Giri, Ayush, Banasik, Karina, Krassowski, Michal, Lepamets, Maarja, Marciniak, Błażej, Nõukas, Margit, Perro, Danielle, Sliz, Eeva, Sobalska-Kwapis, Marta, Thorleifsson, Gudmar, Topbas-Selcuki, Nura F., Vitonis, Allison, Westergaard, David, Arnadottir, Ragnheidur, Burgdorf, Kristoffer S., Campbell, Archie, Cheuk, Cecilia S. K. ... The 23andMe Research Team (2023). The genetic basis of endometriosis and comorbidity with other pain and inflammatory conditions. Nature Genetics, 55 (3), 423-436. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01323-z
Albornoz, Eduardo A., Amarilla, Alberto A., Modhiran, Naphak, Parker, Sandra, Li, Xaria X., Wijesundara, Danushka K., Aguado, Julio, Zamora, Adriana Pliego, McMillan, Christopher L. D., Liang, Benjamin, Peng, Nias Y. G., Sng, Julian D. J., Saima, Fatema Tuj, Fung, Jenny N., Lee, John D., Paramitha, Devina, Parry, Rhys, Avumegah, Michael S., Isaacs, Ariel, Lo, Martin W., Miranda-Chacon, Zaray, Bradshaw, Daniella, Salinas-Rebolledo, Constanza, Rajapakse, Niwanthi W., Wolvetang, Ernst J., Munro, Trent P., Rojas-Fernandez, Alejandro, Young, Paul R., Stacey, Katryn J. ... Woodruff, Trent M. (2023). SARS-CoV-2 drives NLRP3 inflammasome activation in human microglia through spike protein. Molecular Psychiatry, 28 (7), 2878-2893. doi: 10.1038/s41380-022-01831-0
Gorman, Declan M., Li, Xaria X., Lee, John D., Fung, Jenny N., Cui, Cedric S., Lee, Han Siean, Rolfe, Barbara E., Woodruff, Trent M. and Clark, Richard J. (2021). Development of Potent and Selective Agonists for Complement C5a Receptor 1 with In Vivo Activity. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 64 (22) acs.jmedchem.1c01174, 16598-16608. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01174
McDonald, Tanya S., Kumar, Vinod, Fung, Jenny N., Woodruff, Trent M. and Lee, John D. (2021). Glucose clearance and uptake is increased in the SOD1 G93A mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis through an insulin‐independent mechanism. The FASEB Journal, 35 (7) e21707, e21707. doi: 10.1096/fj.202002450r
Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Churchill, Molly, Donoghue, Jacqueline F., Mortlock, Sally, Fung, Jenny N., Sloggett, Clare, Chung, Jessica, Cann, Leonie, Teh, Wan Tinn, Campbell, Katie-Rose, Luwor, Rodney, Healey, Martin, Montgomery, Grant, Girling, Jane E. and Rogers, Peter A. W. (2021). Elucidating the role of long intergenic non-coding RNA 339 in human endometrium and endometriosis. Molecular Human Reproduction, 27 (3) gaab010. doi: 10.1093/molehr/gaab010
Akhir, Fazrena Nadia Md, Noor, Mohd Hezmee Mohd, Leong, Keith Weng Kit, Nabizadeh, Jamileh A., Manthey, Helga D., Sonderegger, Stefan E., Fung, Jenny Nga Ting, McGirr, Crystal E., Shiels, Ian A., Mills, Paul C., Woodruff, Trent M. and Rolfe, Barbara E. (2021). An immunoregulatory role for complement receptors in murine models of breast cancer. Antibodies, 10 (1) 2, 1-12. doi: 10.3390/antib10010002
Marla, S., Mortlock, S., Houshdaran, S., Fung, J., McKinnon, B., Holdsworth-Carson, S. J., Girling, J. E., Rogers, P. A. W., Giudice, L. C. and Montgomery, G. W. (2021). Genetic risk factors for endometriosis near estrogen receptor 1 and coexpression of genes in this region in endometrium. Molecular Human Reproduction, 27 (1) gaaa082. doi: 10.1093/molehr/gaaa082
Lee, John D., McDonald, Tanya S., Fung, Jenny N. T. and Woodruff, Trent M. (2020). Absence of Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Product (RAGE) Reduces Inflammation and Extends Survival in the hSOD1 Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Molecular Neurobiology, 57 (10), 4143-4155. doi: 10.1007/s12035-020-02019-9
Mortlock, Sally, Kendarsari, Raden I., Fung, Jenny N., Gibson, Greg, Yang, Fei, Restuadi, Restuadi, Girling, Jane E., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Teh, Wan Tinn, Lukowski, Samuel W., Healey, Martin, Qi, Ting, Rogers, Peter A. W., Yang, Jian, McKinnon, Brett and Montgomery, Grant W. (2020). Tissue specific regulation of transcription in endometrium and association with disease. Human Reproduction, 35 (2), 377-393. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dez279
Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J, Chung, Jessica, Sloggett, Clare, Mortlock, Sally, Fung, Jenny N., Montgomery, Grant W., Dior, Uri P., Healey, Martin, Rogers, Peter A.W. and Girling, Jane E. (2020). Obesity does not alter endometrial gene expression in women with endometriosis. Reproductive BioMedicine Online, 41 (1), 113-118. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2020.03.015
Mortlock, Sally, Restuadi, Restuadi, Levien, Rupert, Girling, Jane E., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Healey, Martin, Zhu, Zhihong, Qi, Ting, Wu, Yang, Lukowski, Samuel W., Rogers, Peter A. W., Yang, Jian, McRae, Allan F., Fung, Jenny N. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2019). Genetic regulation of methylation in human endometrium and blood and gene targets for reproductive diseases. Clinical Epigenetics, 11 (1) 49, 49. doi: 10.1186/s13148-019-0648-7
Holdsworth-Carson, S. J., Colgrave, E. M., Donoghue, J. F., Fung, J. N., Churchill, M. L., Mortlock, S., Paiva, P., Healey, M., Montgomery, G. W., Girling, J. E. and Rogers, P. A. W. (2019). Generation of immortalized human endometrial stromal cell lines with different endometriosis risk genotypes. MHR: Basic science of reproductive medicine, 25 (4), 194-205. doi: 10.1093/molehr/gaz006
Gajbhiye, Rahul, Fung, Jenny N. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2018). Complex genetics of female fertility. npj Genomic Medicine, 3 (1) 29, 29. doi: 10.1038/s41525-018-0068-1
O’Mara, Tracy A., Glubb, Dylan M., Amant, Frederic, Annibali, Daniela, Ashton, Katie, Attia, John, Auer, Paul L., Beckmann, Matthias W., Black, Amanda, Bolla, Manjeet K., Brauch, Hiltrud, Brenner, Hermann, Brinton, Louise, Buchanan, Daniel D., Burwinkel, Barbara, Chang-Claude, Jenny, Chanock, Stephen J., Chen, Chu, Chen, Maxine M., Cheng, Timothy H. T., Clarke, Christine L., Clendenning, Mark, Cook, Linda S., Couch, Fergus J., Cox, Angela, Crous-Bous, Marta, Czene, Kamila, Day, Felix, Dennis, Joe ... Thompson, Deborah J. (2018). Identification of nine new susceptibility loci for endometrial cancer. Nature Communications, 9 (1) 3166, 3166. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05427-7
Fung, Jenny N., Mortlock, Sally, Girling, Jane E., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Teh, Wan Tinn, Zhu, Zhihong, Lukowski, Samuel W., McKinnon, Brett D., McRae, Allan, Yang, Jian, Healey, Martin, Powell, Joseph E., Rogers, Peter A. W. and Montgomery, Grant W (2018). Genetic regulation of disease risk and endometrial gene expression highlights potential target genes for endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) 11424, 11424. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-29462-y
Fung, Jenny N. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2018). Genetics of endometriosis: state of the art on genetic risk factors for endometriosis. Best Practice & Research: Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 50, 61-71. doi: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2018.01.012
Dior, Uri P., Nisbet, Debbie, Fung, Jenny N., Foster, Grant, Healey, Martin, Montgomery, Grant W., Rogers, Peter A.W., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J. and Girling, Jane E. (2018). The association of sonographic evidence of adenomyosis with severe endometriosis and gene expression in eutopic endometrium. Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology, 26 (5), 941-948. doi: 10.1016/j.jmig.2018.09.780
Fung, Jenny N., Sapkota, Yadav, Nyholt, Dale R. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2017). Genetic risk factors for endometriosis. Journal of Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Disorders, 9 (2), 69-76. doi: 10.5301/je.5000273
Lee, John D., Kumar, Vinod, Fung, Jenny N. T., Ruitenberg, Marc J., Noakes, Peter G. and Woodruff, Trent M. (2017). Pharmacological inhibition of complement C5a-C5a1 receptor signalling ameliorates disease pathology in the hSOD1G93A mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. British Journal of Pharmacology, 173 (8), 689-699. doi: 10.1111/bph.13730
Fung, Jenny N., Girling, Jane E., Lukowski, Samuel W., Sapkota, Yadav, Wallace, Leanne, Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Henders, Anjali K., Healey, Martin, Rogers, Peter A. W., Powell, Joseph E. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2017). The genetic regulation of transcription in human endometrial tissue. Human Reproduction, 32 (4), 893-904. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dex006
Powell, Joseph E., Fung, Jenny N., Shakhbazov, Konstantin, Sapkota, Yadav, Cloonan, Nicole, Hemani, Gibran, Hillman, Kristine M., Kaufmann, Susanne, Luong, Hien T., Bowdler, Lisa, Painter, Jodie N., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Visscher, Peter M., Dinger, Marcel E., Healey, Martin, Nyholt, Dale R., French, Juliet D., Edwards, Stacey L., Rogers, Peter A. W. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2016). Endometriosis risk alleles at 1p36.12 act through inverse regulation of CDC42 and LINC00339. Human Molecular Genetics, 25 (22), 5046-5058. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddw320
Seim, Inge, Jeffery, Penny L., Thomas, Patrick B., Walpole, Carina M., Maugham, Michelle, Fung, Jenny N. T., Yap, Pei-Yi, O'Keeffe, Angela J., Lai, John, Whiteside, Eliza J., Herington, Adrian C. and Chopin, Lisa K. (2016). Multi-species sequence comparison reveals conservation of ghrelin gene-derived splice variants encoding a truncated ghrelin peptide. Endocrine, 52 (3), 609-617. doi: 10.1007/s12020-015-0848-7
Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Fung, Jenny N., Luong, Hien T. T., Sapkota, Yadav, Bowdler, Lisa M., Wallace, Leanne, Teh, Wan Tinn, Powell, Joseph E., Girling, Jane E., Healey, Martin, Montgomery, Grant W. and Rogers, Peter A. W. (2016). Endometrial vezatin and its association with endometriosis risk. Human Reproduction, 31 (5), 999-1013. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dew047
Sapkota, Yadav, Fassbender, Amelie, Bowdler, Lisa, Fung, Jenny N., Peterse, Danielle, O, Dorien, Montgomery, Grant W., Nyholt, Dale R. and D'Hooghe, Thomas M. (2015). Independent replication and meta-analysis for endometriosis risk loci. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 18 (5), 518-525. doi: 10.1017/thg.2015.61
Fung, Jenny N., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Sapkota, Yadav, Zhao, Zhen Zhen, Jones, Lincoln, Girling, Jane E., Paiva, Premila, Healey, Martin, Nyholt, Dale R., Rogers, Peter A. W. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2015). Functional evaluation of genetic variants associated with endometriosis near GREB1. Human Reproduction, 30 (5), 1263-1275. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dev051
Fung, Jenny N., Rogers, Peter A. W. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2015). Identifying the biological basis of GWAS hits for endometriosis. Biology of Reproduction, 92 (4) 87. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.114.126458
Lee, John D., Kamaruzaman, Nur A., Fung, Jenny N. T., Taylor, Stephen M., Turner, Bradley J., Atkin, Julie D., Woodruff, Trent M. and Noakes, Peter G. (2013). Dysregulation of the complement cascade in the hSOD1(G93A) transgenic mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Journal of Neuroinflammation, 10 (1) 119, 119. doi: 10.1186/1742-2094-10-119
Whiteside, Eliza J., Seim, Inge, Pauli, Jana P., O'Keeffe, Angela J., Thomas, Patrick B., Carter, Shea L., Walpole, Carina M., Fung, Jenny N. T., Josh, Peter, Herington, Adrian C. and Chopin, Lisa K. (2013). Identification of a long non-coding RNA gene, growth hormone secretagogue receptor opposite strand, which stimulates cell migration in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. International Journal of Oncology, 43 (2), 566-574. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2013.1969
Seim, Inge, Jeffery, Penny L., de Amorim, Laura, Walpole, Carina M., Fung, Jenny, Whiteside, Eliza J., Lourie, Rohan, Herington, Adrian C. and Chopin, Lisa K. (2013). Ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) is expressed in prostate cancer tissues and cell lines and expression is differentially regulated in vitro by ghrelin. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, 11 (1) 70, 70.1-70.9. doi: 10.1186/1477-7827-11-70
Fung, Jenny N. T., Jeffery, Penny L., Lee, John D., Seim, Inge, Roche, Deborah, Obermair, Andreas, Chopin, Lisa K. and Chen, Chen (2013). Silencing of ghrelin receptor expression inhibits endometrial cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 305 (2), E305-E313. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00156.2013
Fung, Jenny N. T., Seim, Inge, Wang, Dengfeng, Obermair, Andreas, Chopin, Lisa K. and Chen, Chen (2010). Expression and in vitro functions of the ghrelin axis in endometrial cancer. Hormone and Cancer, 1 (5), 245-255. doi: 10.1007/s12672-010-0047-1
Wang, Dengfeng, Fung, Jenny Nga Ting Fung, Tuo, Ya, Hu, Lina and Chen, Chen (2010). TWEAK/Fn14 promotes apoptosis of human endometrial cancer cells via caspase pathway. Cancer Letters, 294 (1), 91-100. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2010.01.027
Conference Papers
Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Girling, Jane, Cann, Leonie, Healey, Martin, Fung, Jenny N., Montgomery, Grant and Rogers, Peter (2019). Expression and Cellular Localization of Endometriosis Risk Gene Long Intergenic Non-Coding RNA 339 (LINC00339). 66th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI), Paris, France, 12-16 March 2019. Thousand Oaks, CA United States: Sage.
Mortlock, Sally, Fung, Jenny N., Girling, Jane E., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Healey, Martin, Lukowski, Samuel W., McKinnon, Brett D., Yang, Jian, McRae, Allan, Rogers, Peter A. W. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2019). Identifying Target Genes for Endometriosis through Integration of Genetic Effects on Transcription and Methylation in Human Endometrium. 66th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI), Paris, France, 12-16 March 2019. Thousand Oaks, CA, United States: Sage.
Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Donoghue, Jacqueline, Colgrave, Eliza, Fung, Jenny N., Churchill, Molly, Healey, Martin, Montgomery, Grant, Girling, Jane and Rogers, Peter (2019). Generation of Immortalized Human Endometrial Stromal Cell Lines with Different Endometriosis Risk Genotypes. 66th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society-for-Reproductive-Investigation (SRI), Paris, France, 12-16 March 2019. Thousand Oaks, CA, United States: Sage.
Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Chung, Jessica, Healey, Martin, Fung, Jenny N., Montgomery, Grant, Rogers, Peter and Girling, Jane (2019). Obesity Does Not Impact on Endometrial Gene Expression in Women with Endometriosis. 66th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society-for-Reproductive-Investigation (SRI), Paris, France, 12-16 March 2019 . Thousand Oaks, CA, United States: Sage.
Fung, Jenny N., Mortlock, Sally, Girling, Jane E., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Teh, Wan Tinn, Healey, Martin, Rogers, Peter A. W. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2018). Dynamic changes in gene regulation in human endometrium. 65th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI), San Diego CA, United States, 6-10 March 2018. Thousand Oaks, CA United States: Sage Publications.
Rogers, Peter A. W., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Fung, Jenny N., Colgrave, Eliza M., Paiva, Premila, Girling, Jane E. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2017). Expression Quantitative Trait Loci (eQTL) Approaches for Understanding the Genetics of Endometriosis.. 64th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society-for-Reproductive-Investigation (SRI), Orlando Fl, Mar 15-18, 2017. THOUSAND OAKS: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC.
Montgomery, Grant W., Fung, Jenny N., Holdsworth-Carson, Sarah J., Girling, Jane E., Franch, Juliet D., Edwards, Stacey L., Powell, Joseph E. and Rogers, Peter A. W. (2017). Endometriosis and Ovarian Cancer: Shared Genetic Risk and Common Mechanisms.. 64th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society-for-Reproductive-Investigation (SRI), Orlando Fl, Mar 15-18, 2017. THOUSAND OAKS: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC.
Thesis
Fung, Nga Ting Jenny (2012). Expression and in vitro functions of the ghrelin axis in human endometrial cancer and the effect of silencing ghrelin receptor expression on cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. PhD Thesis, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland.