Research Focus
Our direct focus is to investigate the biological processes critical for the development of these intractable tumours, commercialise our research findings and bring our novel antibody therapies to clinical trial to improve the lives of brain cancer patients.
The Sid Faithfull Brain Cancer Laboratory focuses on glioblastoma (GBM) which is the most common and aggressive form of adult brain cancer. GBM kills approximately 1,900 people per year in Australia. Survival rates are very poor with a median survival of approximately 15 months. Meaningful advancements in patient treatment and survival have not changed for decades. New and better treatment therapies are urgently needed.
The laboratory also studies a number of paediatric brain cancers including medulloblastoma and an incurable form of brain stem glioma called Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG), previously known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). Our goal is to design therapies that specifically treat the tumour site while keeping the healthy developing brain intact in these young patients.
Gallery
Research Projects
Current Research Projects
Defining Eph receptors as therapeutic targets in brain cancer
Defining novel therapies for the treatment of brain cancer
Exploring the use of Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs) and organoid cultures in the treatment of brain cancer
Past Research Projects
2013 – 2023: Sid Faithfull Philanthropic Funding
2019 – 2021: Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF): Centre for Personalised Analysis of Cancers (CPAC)
2022 - 2024: Mark Hughes Foundation: Using the immune system to target and destroy blood vessels feeding aggressive brain cancer
Funding
Current
- 2023 – 2028: Sid Faithfull and Christine Sadler Philanthropic Funding
- 2023 – 2026: Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Australian
Brain Cancer Research
- 2021 – 2024: Margaret Pemberton Foundation: Validation of EphB2 and EphB6 as Novel Functional Therapeutic Targets for the Treatment of Paediatric Brain Cancer
- 2019 – 2025: Children’s Hospital Foundation, Children’s Brain Cancer Centre: Assessment of the Novel OLIG2 Inhibitor CT179 as an Effective Therapy for Paediatric Medulloblastoma |EphA3 a Valid Tumour Specific Therapeutic Target for Paediatric Brain Cancer
Past
- Laurie’s Love Foundation
- Tour de Cure
- Cancer Council Queensland
- Sid Faithfull and Christine Sadler Philanthropic Funding
- Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Centre for Personalised Analysis of Cancers (CPAC)
- Cure Brain Cancer Foundation – Infrastructure Funding & Project Grant
- The Kid’s Cancer Project (TKCP)
- Queensland Health
- Cancer Australia
- RBWH Cancer Care Services
- RBWH Private Practice Fund
Publications
Kordowski A, Mulay O, Tan X, Vo T, Baumgartner U, Maybury MK, Hassall TEG, Wainwright BJ, Harris L, Nguyen Q, Day BW. Spatial transcriptomic sequencing of DIPG-infiltrated Brainstem reveals key invasion markers and novel ligand-receptor pairs contributing to tumour to TME crosstalk. bioRxiv. 2024 May.
Day BW, Lathia JD, Bruce ZC, D’Souza RCJ, Baumgartner U, Ensbey KS, Lim YC, Stringer BW, Akgul S, Offenhauser C, Li Y, Jamieson PR, Smith FM, Jurd CLR, Robertson T, Inglis PL, Lwin Z, Jeffree R, Johns TG, Bhat KPL, Rich JN, Campbell KP, and Boyd AW. The Dystroglycan Receptor Maintains Glioma Stem Cells in the Vascular Niche. Acta Neuropathologica, 2019 Dec, 138(6), 1033-1052. IF = 18.1 | Cit = 22
Lim YC, Ensbey KS, Offenhäuser C, D’Souza RCJ, Cullen JK, Stringer BW, Quek H, Bruce ZC, Kijas A, Cianfanelli V, Mahboubi B, Smith F, Jeffree RL, Wiesmüeller L, Wiegmans AP, Bain A, Lombard FJ, Roberts TL, Khanna KK, Lavin MF, Baek K, Hamerlik P, Johns TG, Coster MJ, Boyd AW and Day BW. Simultaneous Targeting of DNA Replication and Homologous Recombination in Glioblastoma with a Polyether Ionophore. Neuro-Oncology. 2020 Feb 20. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noz159. IF = 15.9 | Cit = 13
Further Information
National
- Prof Brandon Wainwright (UQ)
- Prof Greig De Zubicaray (QUT)
- Dr Timothy Hassall (Clinician, QLD Childrens Hospital)
- Prof Hui Gan (Clinician Scientist, ONJCRI & Austin Health)
- A/Prof Zarnie Lwin (RBWH Clinician)
- Dr Richard Lobb (UQ)
- Dr Hamish Alexander (RBWH Neurosurgeon)
- A/Prof Mark Pinkham (PA Radiation Oncologist)
- Prof Eng-Siew Koh (COGNO Chair)
- A/Prof Rosalind Jeffree (Neurosurgeon, RBWH)
- A/Prof Craig Gedye (Clinician Scientist, Newcastle University)
- Prof Stuart Pitson (University of South Australia)
- Dr Guillermo Gomez (University of South Australia)
- Dr Po Inglis (Oncologist, RBWH)
- A/Prof Kris Thurecht (UQ)
- Prof Stephen Rose (CSIRO)
- Emeritus Prof Andrew Boyd (QIMR Berghofer, UQ)
- Prof Michael Brown (University of South Australia)
- Dr Simon Puttick (AIBN, UQ, Brisbane)
- Prof Andrew Scott (ONJ, Austin Health Oncologist)
International
- Prof Timothy Gershon (Emory University, Atlanta)
- Prof Peter Dirks (Sick Kids, Toronto, Canada)
- Dr Greg Stein (CEO of Curtana, Texas)
- Prof Lars Terenius & A/Prof Vladana Vukojevic (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm Sweden)
- Dr Cameron Durrant (CEO Humanigen, NASDAQ Listed Company, New Jersey, US)
- Prof David Ashley (Director, Brain Tumour Center, Duke University)
- Prof Jerry Shay (UT Southwestern)
- Dr. Kristoffer Vitting-Seerup, PhD (Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark)
- A/Prof Charles Unsworth (University of Auckland, NZ)
- Dr. Violaine Goidts (DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany)
- A/Prof Justin Lathia (Cleveland Clinic)
- A/Prof Krishna Bhat (MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas)
- Prof Masanori Nakayama (Max Planck Institute, Germany)
Lab Booklet 2023