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License to kill…cancer

How next generation medical research can help us tackle tough cancers

As part of Seniors Week 2026, discover how the immune system’s own dendritic ‘spy cells’ can be supercharged to seek out and destroy cancer, offering new hope for hard-to-treat solid tumours.

Professor Shalin Naik and Dr Sara Tomei share insights into their groundbreaking cancer and cell-ageing research happening right here in Victoria.

Date: Thursday 29 October 2026
Time: 2:30-4:30pm
Venue: WEHI, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville and online
Cost: Free – registration is required

Meet our speakers

Professor Shalin Naik

Professor Shalin Naik is a Laboratory Head in WEHI’s Immunology Division where his lab creates cutting edge new technologies to further our understanding of blood cell production, immunology and cancer.

In 2025, the Naik lab’s plan to supercharge dendritic immune cells to tackle cancer received a game-changing $17m grant from the Medical Research Future Fund’s Frontier Health and Medical Research Initiative (MRFF) to accelerate development of much needed new treatments for bowel and other solid cancers.

Shalin is also an occasional TV and podcast host.

Dr Sara Tomei

Dr Sara Tomei is a WEHI researcher studying how blood and immune cells develop and change throughout life. Her research focuses on blood stem cells, the rare cells in our bone marrow that continuously produce all the blood cells in our body.

Using cutting-edge technologies that allow individual cells and their descendants to be tracked over time, Sara investigates how ageing alters the blood system and why certain blood stem cells can gain a growth advantage, a process known as clonal haematopoiesis. Her work aims to uncover how changes that might have happened early in life may contribute to diseases such as blood cancers and cardiovascular disease.

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