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 ALT cells that they aim to exploit through the development of chemical inhibitors that are rapidly toxic to ALT cells. This approach will offer improved treatments for adolescent osteosarcomas.