Dr Orazio Vittorio is doing everything he can to improve the outlook for childhood cancer patients. His research has the potential to change countless lives, but he also has another important job – being a dad to three beautiful children!
Dr Orazio Vittorio knows firsthand the devastation that cancer can have on families. His maternal grandmother died from bowel cancer at just 40 years old, and Orazio lost a close friend to Glioblastoma as a young adult.
As a result, Orazio always dreamt of becoming a cancer researcher, and hoped to pursue a career in paediatric cancer. Leaving his hometown in Sicily, Orazio relocated to Tuscany in 1998 where he received a Master’s Degree in Biotechnology, followed by a PhD in Oncology from the University of Pisa. During this time, he also met and married his wife, Manuela.
SURVIVING CANCER
Orazio began his research career in the field of pancreatic cancer, but in a strange twist of fate, whilst helping a friend who was studying a new protocol for cancer imaging in 2010, a tumour was discovered in Orazio’s kidney.
‘I was fortunate because the cancer was in its very early stages, but when I was diagnosed with the disease, the first thought I had was that I did not want anyone going through what I did, especially children. I decided there and then to dedicate my life to finding a cure for childhood cancers.’
In 2011, Orazio and Manuela welcomed their first son, Andrea. The following year, Orazio applied and obtained a Fellowship at the University of New South Wales, and the family relocated to Sydney.
‘At the beginning it was difficult,’ says Orazio. ‘We had no family support network and struggled to adapt to a new culture. But after a year or so, we began to feel ‘Aussie’ – even more so when my second son, Giuseppe, came along, the first of the family to have Australian citizenship!’
GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH
Nine years on and Orazio has fully cemented his career here in Australia as a Team Leader in the Metal-Targeted Therapy and Immunology Group at the Children's Cancer Institute. Focusing on the childhood cancers neuroblastoma and gliomas (brain cancer), Orazio is investigating the role of metals such as copper in the growth of these tumours.
“ My goal is to develop drugs that specifically target cellular pathways involving these metals, thereby halting tumour progression. I recently made a breakthrough discovery, where I showed for the first that that cancer cells use copper as a shield to hide from the immune system attack. This is a terrific discovery as, by using drugs already clinically available that are used to reduce copper in our body, we were able to make visible the tumour to the immune system. Studies so far have shown double the survival in our animal model of those tumours.”
Ultimately, Orazio hopes his research will improve survival rates for children with cancer and, perhaps most importantly, develop targeted therapies with less side effects.
‘Both those tumours are devastating. Children undergo aggressive therapies and despite this, the majority of them are going to die. Improving quality of life of children suffering from these diseases is of paramount importance.’
In 2021, Dr Vittorio received a NSW 2021 Young Tall Poppy Award for his ground-breaking research and exceptional commitment to increasing science literacy in the community.
THE BALANCING ACT
Orazio and the rest of the family received Australian citizenship in 2019, and last year welcomed a daughter, Greta.
‘I know how lucky Manuela and I are to have three happy, healthy children - being a father is the most beautiful part of my life. Many scientists say that it’s impossible to have a family and be a successful scientist but I strongly disagree! I’m proud to say that I’ve changed over 4000 nappies and counting, and this hasn’t prevented me from publishing 90 scientific papers so far! Of course, it is not easy, I haven’t slept more than five hours in the last ten years, but it’s all worth it. ‘
Despite a happy, busy homelife, punctuated by his favourite pastimes of motorcycling around Australia and cooking traditional Sicilian food, Orazio is still as passionate as ever about making a difference to children with cancer.
‘Childhood cancer is considered rare, and so research is underfunded by both the government and pharma companies. However, over 900 children are diagnosed with cancer every year in Australia alone – that’s 900 families every year devastated by the disease. If we consider the impact that cancer has on children with their entire lives in front of them, and the impact on their families, childhood cancer patients cannot be considered less worthy of support.’
“Fatherhood pushes me to do my best, work hard and contribute to scientific discoveries in the hope that we will one day live in a world where no parent has to lose a child to cancer."
A FATHER’S DAY WISH
Father’s Day this year will be a quiet one for Orazio as Sydney is still in lockdown (although he has heard rumours that the children may bake him a cake!). However, he does have one special wish.
“My ultimate hope is that I can complete my experiments and take my research into copper chelation therapy in children with brain cancer to clinical trial. This work has the potential to make an incredible difference to mums, dads and children everywhere.”
‘I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated to Cure Cancer in support of my work – you really are making a difference, and I am so grateful for this vital support.’
Make Orazio’s Father’s Day wish come true and help bring his breakthrough research to clinical trial by donating below:
