I am the Scientific Director of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence, The National Centre for Asbestos Related Disease, a team of around 35 researchers, clinicians, staff and students conducting asbestos-related disease research in search of novel therapies, methods of detection, and prevention. In addition, I am the Head of the Biomarkers and Discovery unit of NCARD and manager of the NCARD Biobank.

I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Western Australia and received my PhD in 1995 from La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia). I was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship and worked at the University of Cincinnati Medical Centre in Ohio, USA for three years.  I returned in 1999 to Australia working in the cancer and immunology fields as a molecular biologist and protein chemist.

Biomarker discovery and validation

Neoantigen targeted immunotherapy for mesothelioma and lung cancer

Biomarker discovery and validation

My research focuses on identifying and validating new biomarkers for mesothelioma and lung cancer. Through extensive characterisation of the tumour genetic, epigenetic, protein and metabolite profile we are working towards improving early detection, diagnosis and prognosis for these deadly tumours, as well as predicting which patients will respond to treatment. In international collaborations, including with The Cancer Genome Atlas we have been involved in the identification of new biomarkers, tumour subtypes and diagnostic strategies for mesothelioma.

Neoantigen targeted immunotherapy for mesothelioma and lung cancer

My team is working towards developing a new personalised treatment approach for cancer through neoantigen targeting. Neoantigens arise from mutations in the DNA of cancerous cells. Through genetic and proteomic characterisation of tumours and sophisticated immunological predications neoantigens can be identified.  My team's work identified the first natural carcinogen induced neoantigen and has provided key new insights into the interplay between tumours, neoantigens and the immune system.

Resources

NCARD Biobank, largest collection of clinical specimens from patients with pleural disease focussing on mesothelioma, lung cancer and benign asbestos related disease. The bank includes tumour tissue, pleural effusions, blood and urine with extensive clinical annotation.   

My team has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council’s through the Centre of Research Excellence Programme, Enabling Grant and Project Grant schemes, as well as WA Cancer Council, iCARE, the Insurance Commission of WA and the Department of Health (WA).