Novel biomarkers to improve cancer outcomes

• Honours
• PhD

Our laboratory studies factors that are dysregulated in cancer.

In particular, we seek to identify biomarkers that will enable earlier pancreatic cancer detection, improve monitoring of tumour progression, guide treatment selection, or predict treatment response.

This project will integrate real-world clinical data, comprehensive patient sample, patient-derived organoid (PDO) and matched patient-derived xenograft (PDX) biobanks, state-of-the-art multi-omics technologies and outstanding imaging platforms to identify biomarkers that define tumour plasticity and understand how these predict cellular behaviour and treatment response.

This project is eligible for the WEHI Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML) PhD Scholarship and is open to both domestic and international students.

Our group has a focus on Pancreatic cancer. This is the most lethal of all cancers with only 12% of patients surviving beyond 5 years. There are no overt symptoms, resulting in over 80% of patients being diagnosed with advanced metastatic disease that is inoperable. Chemotherapy is provided to these patients with palliative intent and most succumb to the cancer within 6 months.

We are a dynamic and inclusive team that collaborate closely with numerous national and international research institutes, universities and biotechnology companies.