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Professor Rebecca S Mason

Professor
Physiology, School of Medical Sciences
Bosch Institute

F13 - Anderson Stuart Building
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

T: +61 2 9351 2561 +61 2 9351 6524
F: +61 2 9351 2058
E:

Research interests

Professor Mason's research program has developed over many years in the fields of bone and skin. The link between them is vitamin D, which is made in skin and is important in bone, but, as this research has discovered, important in skin for photoprotection as well. The link between bone and skin is Vitamin D. In particular, her group’s studies in skin have shown that the active vitamin D hormone is synthesised locally by melanoma cells and causes their differentiation. The group also showed for the first time that Vitamin D compounds formed in skin by the action of UV light contribute to endogenous photoprotection, including a reduction in DNA damage and UV-induced immunosuppression, through a reduction in nitric oxide products and an increase in p53 expression. Professor Mason has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and on National Health and Medical Research Council Grant Review Panels for Endocrinology and Reproduction and Musculoskeletal diseases. She is a member of the Technical Committee of the Commission Internationale de L’Eclairage (International Commission of Illumination) on Sunlight, Health and Vitamin D. She serves on a committee updating Clinical Guidelines for melanoma prevention and management for the National Health and Medical Research Council.

bone and mineral metabolism; osteoporosis; sun-protection

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Current national competitive grants*

2011

Novel strategies for the treatment of bone disease by nutrient activators of calcium-sensing receptors
Mason R, Conigrave A
National Health and Medical Research Council Project Grant ($451,299 over 3 years)

2010

Enhancing sunscreen DNA and proto-ageing protection
Mason R, Rohanizadeh R, Halliday G
Australian Research Council Linkage Project ($345,000 over 2 years)

* Grants administered through the University of Sydney

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