Dr Bo He is a mid-career researcher at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and the University of Western Australia (UWA). He obtained his PhD in 2013 at UWA, where his doctoral research focused on ageing-related diseases and biology. Following the completion of his PhD, Bo undertook postdoctoral training as a Research Officer (2013–2018) and later as a Research Associate (2019–present) at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research under the supervision of Professor Ruth Ganss. In this role, he developed expertise in tumour vascular biology, tumour microenvironment modulation, immunotherapy, and drug repurposing. He pioneered the therapeutic induction of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy. His research has been supported by national competitive grants, international collaborations and industrial collaborative partnerships (such as Eisai Co., Ltd and Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD)), reflecting its translational potential for future clinical applications. As a mid-career researcher, he also supervises PhD students and early-career scientists, contributing to the training of the next generation of cancer researchers.

• Cancer Microenvironment
• Cancer vascular and stromal remodelling
• Targeted therapeutic delivery
• Immunotherapy

Collectively, these research interests converge on the goal of translating basic discoveries into clinical strategies that improve survival and quality of life for cancer patients.

English

Chinese

Approximately 80% of people with cancer do not respond to immunotherapy. One major reason is the lack of immune cells inside tumours. My research addresses this by inducing lymph node-like structures, known as tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS), within tumours. These immune hubs attract and activate immune cells, thereby increasing tumour responsiveness to standard immunotherapies.

My research leverages multidisciplinary technologies to investigate cancer biology, aiming to develop novel treatment strategies:
- Transgenic and orthotopic cancer models
- Multiplex immune profiling
- Single-cell RNA sequencing
- Spatial transcriptomics
- Bioinformatics

Cancer types: pancreatic cancer, brain cancer, colon cancer, melanoma, and lung cancer.