WEHI Wednesday Seminar hosted by Professor Andrew Wei
 

Dr Fiona Brown
Senior Research Officer – Wei Laboratory, Blood Cells & Blood Cancer division – Cancer Research & Treatments Theme, WEHI

Unravelling the clonal evolution of venetoclax treated acute myeloid leukaemia

 

Davis Auditorium

Join via SLIDO enter code #WEHIWednesday

Including Q&A session
 

Venetoclax has been transformative for the treatment of older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Despite robust responses being achieved, the evolution of drug resistance resulting from selective therapeutic pressure limits the durability of clinical benefit. Understanding the mechanisms of resistance and identifying novel approaches to mitigate these processes represents an important research strategy. In this seminar, Fiona will introduce her research on the heterogeneity of AML clonal evolution during venetoclax treatment. She will describe two studies leveraging serial clinical samples and preclinical mouse models of AML to understand biomarkers of response to venetoclax-based treatment, which have informed new human clinical trials.

Following her PhD studies, Fiona joined the laboratory of Dr Alex Kentsis at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, studying mechanisms of resistance to intensive chemotherapy in AML due to aberrant protein phosphorylation. Since joining the Wei laboratory, Fiona has established >30 PDX models of AML and a series of genomic tools, including single cell genomic/proteomic platforms, that have enabled the discovery of diverse mechanisms of venetoclax resistance in AML. These studies have provided critical insights to inform future therapeutic design, with the overall goal of identifying more effective treatment strategies that will prolong patient survival.

All welcome!