Resistance Prevention

This program will work on understanding the mechanisms underlying response and resistance to contemporary cancer therapies. It is envisaged that laboratory findings will be translated directly from bench to bedside through clinical trials.

Program Vision

To uncover the factors driving resistance to cancer therapies, with a focus on the individual patient.
To design and clinically implement precision strategies that:
- Target multiple aspects of the tumour and its microenvironment;
- Effectively prevent or control the emergence of drug-tolerant persister cells.
To recruit and mentor the next generation of research leaders and provide an environment in which they can succeed.

The Paediatric and Neuro-oncology program will utilise the close links to the Braggs Comprehensive Cancer Centre, which is Australia’s first proton therapy centre and the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. It is expected to be treating approximately 700 patients per year from 2025. The program’s research teams will also work closely with SAiGENCI affiliates such as Professor Jordan Hansford.

3D Chromatin Organisation Laboratory

Group Leader - Dr Joanna Achinger-Kawecka

The 3D Chromatin Organisation Laboratory, led by Dr Joanna Achinger-Kawecka, investigates the regulatory principles of three-dimensional (3D) genome folding and transcriptional control. This 3D organisation of the genome brings together genes and distal regulatory elements to orchestrate gene transcription, and has been implicated in many diseases, including cancer. Our lab develops new genomics technologies and bioinformatics approaches to explore the role of 3D chromatin organisation in driving cancer progression and treatment resistance. Understanding this oncogenic role of the 3D regulatory genome will accelerate the development of new targeted therapeutic interventions for cancer.

OncoTherapeutics and Biology Laboratory

Group Leader - Professor Christopher Sweeney

The Sweeney Research Group has a translational research focus and works to better understand the
underlying biology of prostate cancer and improve therapies for patients.

Prostate cancer is a complex disease that affects millions of men globally. Development of prostate cancer
involves corruption of the normal prostate transcriptional network, following deregulated expression or
mutation of key transcription factors. The group is interested in understanding how many of these
transcription factors affect prostate cancer development, from localised disease to castration-resistant
metastatic prostate cancer, and subsequently finding viable therapeutic approaches to benefit patients.

The research team is led by Professor Christopher Sweeney, who has devoted his clinical and academic career
to developing strategies to improve the care of patients with genitourinary malignancies with a major focus on
prostate cancer and testicular cancer