Research Projects

Artificial Intelligence

Guillermo Gomez

  • ABCARA’s Program Lead for this area of research is Dr Guillermo Gomez.

    Dr Gomez’s laboratory at the Centre for Cancer Biology is advancing personalised treatment approaches to overcome the most significant clinical challenges for brain cancer treatment: tumour heterogeneity, tumour invasion and therapy resistance.

    This laboratory has developed expertise in imaging, genomic (scRNAseq, spatial transcriptomics) and AI technologies to analyse brain tumour cells and their metabolic and mechanobiological interactions with the tumour microenvironment in resected tumour tissue.

    Moreover, using AI, they have been able to perform the analysis of cellular composition in different brain tumour niches for the largest cohort of glioblastoma patients so far as well as establish the relationships between diagnostic images and brain tumour patients' survival.

    A full list of Dr Gomez’s affiliations and career achievements can be found here.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a crucial role in cancer research as it helps to improve diagnosis accuracy, identify potential treatment options, and predict patient outcomes.

AI algorithms can analyse vast amounts of data, including medical imaging, genomic information, and patient histories, and identify patterns that are not easily recognisable to human doctors. This enables researchers to make more informed decisions and develop more effective treatments.

Biomarkers

  • ABCARA’s Program Lead for this arm of research is Dr Kim Alexander. Dr Alexander is the head of Brain Cancer Research at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.

    Dr Alexander is extremely active in biomarker research with specific expertise in EV biology, including EV isolation, characterisation and comprehensive multi-platform molecular profiling. Her research group has innovated molecular profiling methods for EVs captured from surgical fluids, blood and urine to develop liquid biopsies that help guide the clinical management of brain cancer patients. This laboratory first demonstrated that glioblastoma could be accurately diagnosed using miRNA signatures in EVs captured from peripheral blood before surgery.

    They have since established an EV proteome profiling platform using state-of-the-art data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry, a custom glioma spectral library detailing nearly 10,000 protein species and machine learning algorithms for diagnosing, monitoring and guiding therapeutic decisions for brain cancer patients.

    A full list of Dr Alexander’s affiliations and career achievements can be found here.

Biomarkers are objective and measurable indicators of a normal or abnormal process occurring within a biological system.

In brain cancer research, some biomarkers of interest can include nucleic acids, proteins and tumour-derived extracellular vesicles (EV) that accumulate in blood or cerebrospinal fluid.

Information on a patient’s biomarkers may help diagnose a brain tumour, provide prognosis information, predict whether a specific treatment may work and determine when the disease has recurred.

Heterogeneity

  • Prof Stuart Pitson is ABCARA’s Heterogeneity expert. Prof Pitson is a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, NRF Professor of Brain Tumour Research, and Head of the Molecular Therapeutics Laboratory at the Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia and SA Pathology, Adelaide.

    His work focuses on the targeting of sphingolipid metabolism and signaling for therapeutic benefit in brain cancers and other conditions, and on the development and use of advanced patient-derived xenograft models for pre-clinical evaluation of new anti-cancer approaches for glioblastoma and medulloblastoma.

    A full list of Prof Pitson’s affiliations and career achievements can be found here.

Tumour Heterogeneity refers to the fact that different cells within a single tumour can have different genetic and functional characteristics. This can lead to differences in response to treatments, prognosis, and ultimately, patient outcome.

Studying tumour heterogeneity is important because a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms and variations within a tumour can inform more effective and personalised treatment strategies and improve outcomes for patients.

Imaging

  • Prof Andrew Scott leads the Imaging projects within ABCARA. Prof Scott currently heads the Tumour Targeting Program at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute.

    His clinical and research interests are focused on developing innovative strategies for targeted therapy of cancer (particularly with monoclonal antibodies and peptides), molecular imaging in oncology, and global advocacy in Oncology and Nuclear Medicine. His laboratory has been involved in the preclinical development and first-in-man trials of numerous recombinant antibodies in cancer patients, and seven antibodies developed in his laboratory have been licensed to Biotech and Pharma companies, and have entered Phase I/II/III trials.

    Imaging is an exceptionally powerful non-invasive tool that can positively impact the management of patients with brain cancer. Without it, diagnosis, surgical planning and determining appropriate follow-up treatment would be near impossible.

    A full list of Prof Scott’s affiliations and career achievements can be found here.

Cutting-edge Imaging technologies are an essential tool in the diagnosis, surgical planning and treatment follow-up for brain cancer patients. The current standard of care relies heavily on conventional MRI, with more advanced MR techniques including perfusion and diffusion weighted imaging as well as spectroscopy being increasingly utilised in clinical and research capacities.

Immunology

  • ABCARA’s Immunology lead is Dr Ajith Vasanthakumar. Dr Vasanthakumar is an NHMRC investigator and heads the Tissue and Tumour Immunity laboratory at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI). His research employs novel transgenic mouse models, cutting edge-molecular tools and multi-parameter flow cytometry to understand regulatory T (Treg) cell mediated immune suppression in solid tumours.

    Specifically, his group investigates the homeostatic mechanisms of tumour infiltrating Treg cells and their crosstalk with other immune and non-immune cells in the tumour microenvironment. The overarching aim of his group is to discover novel molecules to target Treg cells specifically within tumours to enhance anti-tumour immunity.

    A full list of Dr Vasanthakumar’s affiliations and career achievements can be found here.

Immunology is important in brain cancer research because it provides a better understanding of how the immune system can be utilised to treat brain tumours. Brain tumours are often referred to as "immunologically privileged" because they are protected from attack by the immune system.

This protection is due to several factors, including the blood-brain-barrier, which restricts the passage of immune cells into the brain, and the presence of inhibitory signals produced by the tumour cells themselves.

However, recent advances in immunology have shown that the immune system can be harnessed to attack brain tumours, and this has led to the development of new immunotherapies for brain cancer.

These therapies work by boosting the immune system's ability to recognise and attack the tumour cells, and they have shown promising results in clinical trials. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the immune system and how it can be utilised in the treatment of brain cancer is a crucial area of research in this field.

Genetic Models

  • ABCARA’s program lead for this area is Dr Sarah Best. Dr Best is a Laboratory Head and Fundamental Biology Lead in the Brain Cancer Research Laboratory, WEHI.

    Dr Best’s experience in the genetics of solid tumours, has focused on the design of personalised therapeutics for patients. Specifically, the genetic manipulation of tumours using Genetically Engineered Mouse Models (GEMMs). Through the generation of sophisticated models that arise within the organ of interest in immune-intact system, the tumour microenvironment can be interrogated, including tumour metabolism and the immune microenvironment.

    A full list of Dr Best’s affiliations and career achievements can be found here.

Genetic Models help identify and interrogate specific genetic changes that lead to the development and progression of brain tumours. These models can be used to study the effects of genetic changes on tumour behaviour, which can provide insight into the underlying mechanisms of the disease and inform the development of new treatments.

Additionally, genetic models can be used to test the efficacy of new drugs and therapies, allowing researchers to assess their safety and effectiveness before conducting clinical trials in human patients.

Drug Discovery

  • Prof Lenka Munoz leads ABCARA’s Drug Discovery program. Prof Munoz is Head of the Cell Signaling Laboratory at the Charles Perkins Centre.

    She uses molecular pharmacology and medicinal chemistry approaches, high-throughput omics, and hypothesis-driven strategies to interrogate glioblastoma biology, to validate new drug targets and to develop drugs acting on these targets.

    A full list of Prof Munoz’ affiliations and career achievements can be found here.

The Drug Discovery arm of ABCARA is integral to the success of future clinical trials. Due to lack of funding, appropriate infrastructure and the complexity of brain cancer as a disease, there has been very little in the way of progress in this area since the discovery of temozolomide (TMZ) in 1980.

Radiation

  • ABCARA’s Radiation expert is Prof Michael Fay. Prof Fay is a Radiation and Medical Oncologist working at the University of Newcastle and GenesisCare.

    He has a particular interest in radiation approaches to managing brain cancer and resistance mechanisms which develop. His research spans across several modalities including PET imagery, MRI imaging and developing multiplexed neuro-imaging techniques.

    Dr Fay is fascinated by how PET imaging has revolutionised oncology care in the past 20 years and is set to revolutionise therapy in the development of theranostics. A current research project centres on developing a new PET tracer for use in brain tumours. Dr Fay is looking forward to using new imaging tools to better understand treatment resistant mechanisms and optimise brain cancer treatments.

    A full list of Prof Fay’s affiliations and career achievements can be found here.

Radiation is one of the most commonly used treatments for brain tumours. Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours. This treatment can be delivered externally, using a machine that delivers the radiation from outside the body, or internally, using a radioactive source placed directly into the tumour.

Radiation therapy is often used in combination with other treatments, such as chemotherapy and surgery, to maximise the effectiveness of the treatment. In brain cancer research, radiation plays a crucial role in developing and refining new techniques for delivering radiation to the tumour, such as stereotactic radiosurgery and intensity-modulated radiation therapy.