Our researchers

We fund the brightest innovators in cancer research.

Our class of 2020 is an exceptional group of brilliant scientists, all who are fearless in their push for the development of ground-breaking ideas.

This year we are funding research in the following cancer areas:

2020

Dr Mark Adams

Cancer Type: Lung Cancer

Research: Studying novel molecules in the stability of genomes to identify patients who will respond best to therapy

Dr Nathalie Bock

Cancer Type: Bone Cancer

Research: How and why cancers metastasise and thrive in bones

Dr Kelly Brooks

Cancer Type: Uveal Melenoma

Research: Understanding the gene mutation in uveal melanoma

Dr Melissa Cantley

Cancer Type: Blood Cancer

Research: Seeking biomarkers in patients with pre-cancerous conditions to identify those at high risk of developing further disease

Dr Laurence Cheung

Cancer Type: Childhood Cancer

Research: Studying the development of high-risk ALL in bone marrow and cell interaction in the leukaemia microenvironment.

Dr Venessa Chin

Cancer Type: Lung Cancer

Research: Predicting responses to immunotherapy to help personalise therapies for lung cancer patients.

Dr Niantao Deng

Cancer Type: Breast Cancer

Research: Analysing breast cancers before and after therapy in a bid to understand why some patients respond well to treatment and others don’t

Dr Jessica Duarte

Cancer Type: Immunotherapy

Research: Analysing blood from patients undergoing immunotherapy to predict how they will respond to treatments aimed at boosting their immune systems.

Dr Laura Edgington-Mitchell

Cancer Type: Cancer Pain Management

Research: Finding new strategies to provide relief from cancer pain.

Dr Fernando Guimaraes

Cancer Type: Immunotherapy

Research: Investigating ways to stimulate the body’s immune system to control the spread of cancer

Dr Marlene Hao

Brain Cancer

Investigating the differences between the two types of glial cells, with the hope of finding a gene that has a strong relationship with the occurrence of the metastasis

Dr Jessica Holien

Ovarian Cancer

Using computer technology to investigate how cancer cell production lines are formed and thus develop new, selective drug targets

Dr Arutha Kulasinghe

Immunotherapy

Using high-res technology to identify tumour-immune cell interactions and help predict a patient’s response to immunotherapy

Dr Shuai Li

Breast Cancer

Seeking to understand why and how puberty and menopause can affect the incidence of breast cancer

Dr Angelica Merlot

Pancreatic Cancer

Identifying new targets and therapies for pancreatic cancer

Dr Simone Park

Immunotherapy

Boosting the activity of white blood cells to make them more effective at fighting cancers

Dr Rachel Thijssen

Blood Cancer

Seeking to understand how blood cancer cells evade death and developing novel approaches to treat blood cancers

Dr Kate Vandyke

Blood Cancer

Studying treatments to reduce the side effects of anti-cancer drugs in multiple myeloma