Genomics Health Futures Mission
Professor Anne Cust, Deputy Director of the Daffodil Centre, was awarded $3 million to deliver improved practice and policy-relevant genomic risk prediction and increase the effectiveness of cancer screening and early detection services for the four most common cancers in Australia –breast, prostate, melanoma and colorectal cancers. Working directly with consumers, health professionals and policy stakeholders, the team aim to reduce the cancer burden and help Australians live longer and healthier lives.
Childhood Cancer Research
Associate Professor Hilda Pickett was awarded $1.4 million for her project Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT): Target discovery to treatment. Osteosarcoma is the most common type of primary bone malignancy, with the highest incidence in adolescence. Survival has shown little improvement over the last three decades. The majority of osteosarcomas activate the ALT pathway. The team have discovered a weakness of
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Researchers awarded $22 million for medical research The University of Sydney has received funding for 14 projects from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to improve health outcomes for Australians.
The Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon Greg Hunt, has announced $180 million in funding for 105 medical research projects, to improve health outcomes for Australians.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Duncan Ivison welcomed the funding announcement which awarded $22.3 million to the University of Sydney for 14 projects.
“The funding of these 14 projects will support the important work our researchers do in improving the lives of Australians – from screening and early detection for common cancers to evaluating novel drugs for stroke patients.”
email article
Regular skin surveillance using total body imaging was helpful for picking up malignant melanomas in high-risk people, researchers reported.
In an Australian study of 593 adults, a structured surveillance program involving total-body photography (TBP) and sequential digital dermoscopy imaging (SDDI) every 6 months identified 171 new cases of melanoma during a nearly 3-year follow-up, reported Anne Cust, PhD, MPH, of the University of Sydney, and colleagues.
This type of imaging specifically detected 67% of new melanomas in this population, nearly all of which had a Breslow thickness of 1 mm or less, the group wrote in
Over 31% of these new melanomas were detected with the aid of TBP, while 29.2% were detected with digital dermoscopy monitoring.