We provide a world-class research education program at a leading Australian cancer research institution for students from Australian and international universities
Our research education program provides you with opportunities to develop knowledge and expertise in your chosen research area, and professional skills that will help you fulfil your career ambitions. Our 2023 Research Student Open Day will be held on 13 September 2023 (Virtual).
Hear directly from some of our supervisors about their research projects on offer below:
The Brown lab investigates the ways in which aberrant cellular metabolism contributes to malignant transformation, tumour progression and therapy resistance in cancer. We apply this knowledge to the pre-clinical development of novel and more effective interventions for cancer therapy. Read more about the Brown laboratory. Human head and neck cancer is a devastating disease. We have recently discovered genetic defects that trigger head and neck cancer development. The Darido lab is currently exploring novel treatment strategies aimed at targeting genetic defects, and we expect that our findings will lead to new personalised therapies for head and neck cancer patients that are likely to improve their outcomes. Epigenetics helps define current cell states, yet also shapes how cells respond to external cues such as differentiation or stress. Our lab uses insights from developmental epigenetics to understand how the normal tight control of epigenetic plasticity is hijacked by cancers, using single cell epigenomic, CRISPR and molecular cell biology technologies. Read more about the Eckersley-Maslin laboratory. In the Goel laboratory, we study cell cycle machinery and how it influences breast cancer biology in both cancer cells and stromal cells. We aim to leverage our discoveries to design new drug therapies for breast cancer. Read more about the Goel laboratory. The Johnstone Lab performs fundamental and pre-clinical research aimed at defining the molecular and biological processes underpinning the regulation of gene expression, tumorigenesis, anti-cancer drug activity and drug resistance. Read more about the Johnstone laboratory. In the Kats laboratory, we are interested in developing new therapeutic strategies for aggressive blood cancers. Read more about the Kats laboratory. The McArthur laboratory investigates oncogenes as therapeutic targets for cancer. By targeting oncogenic signalling in cancer and understanding the impact of this therapy on both the tumour cell and its microenvironment, we aim to develop novel treatment strategies that are durable and prevent therapy resistance. The McArthur laboratory has a specific interest in melanoma, but also investigates pancreatic and oesophageal cancer. Researchers in the Pearson laboratory investigate the molecular basis of the regulation of signalling pathways and their control of cell growth. We aim to understand how deregulation of this process contributes to cancer and how it can be targeted to treat the disease. The Wickramasinghe laboratory uses innovative cell biology, molecular biology and genetic approaches to understand a critical step in gene expression, messenger RNA export. Nuclear export of mRNA to the cytoplasm is required for gene expression and is deregulated in cancer. Our goal is to use these fundamental biological insights to develop novel first-in-class inhibitors to treat cancer.
Cancer Biology & Therapeutics
Brown Laboratory
Darido Laboratory
Eckersley-Maslin Laboratory
Goel Laboratory
Johnstone Laboratory
Kats Laboratory
McArthur Laboratory
Pearson Laboratory
Wickramasinghe Laboratory
The Beavis laboratory has a focus on developing novel immune-based therapies for Cancer. We employ innovative approaches and technologies to enhance the effectiveness of both conventional immunotherapies and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in the treatment of solid cancers such as breast cancer and melanoma. The Darcy laboratory is involved in developing novel strategies for effectively harnessing the immune system against cancer. The goal of our laboratory is to develop effective immunotherapies for cancer. There is considerable power in the many billions of circulating blood cells that comprise the immune system. We seek to turn this disease-fighting capacity against cancer cells by using anti-cancer genes to endow immune cells with the ability to recognize and destroy tumour cells. The Lalaoui laboratory uses a range of cellular, molecular techniques and mouse models to investigate the causes and consequences of immunogenic cell death programs activated by innate immune ligands. We apply this fundamental knowledge to design new therapeutic strategies for cancer and inflammatory diseases and to understand the impact of iimmunogenic cell death in cancer immunity and cancer progression. Read more about the Lalaoui laboratory. The Parker laboratory explores interactions in the cancer microenvironment that prevent or support tumour invasion and spread (metastasis) to other tissues, including bone. Our overall objective is to uncover new biomarkers (genes/proteins) that predict risk of cancer metastasis and response to therapy and uncover novel precision therapeutic strategies to target the most lethal stages of solid cancer progression at an individual patient level. Our investigations integrate innovative science and pre-clinical research to inform the translation of agents into clinical trials. Read more about the Parker laboratory. We explore how blood cell signalling influences fate decisions during development and immune responses. This will help to improve immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, and to understand how leukaemia occurs when development goes wrong. Key for our research approach is to develop and apply new imaging and computational approaches; for this reason, the lab is partly in the Centre for Micro-Photonics, Swinburne University. We investigate immune mechanisms of defence against viral pathogens and cancerous (transformed) cells. The Trapani laboratory has a long-standing interest in elucidating the mechanisms and regulation of Cytotoxic lymphocytes (CL) activity, with the major focus of our studies being key cytotoxic molecules: pro-apoptotic proteases, granzymes and a pore-forming protein, perforin (PRF). In the Voskoboinik Killer Cell Biology Laboratory, researchers investigate the regulation and function of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and natural killer (NK) cells, which play a key role in the surveillance of virus-infected and cancer cells. Clarifying the biology of CTL and NK cells is critical to help understand the fundamental principles of immunity, predisposition to paediatric blood cancers and immune deficiency. We take a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses immunology, biochemistry, structural biology, cell biology and genetics.
Cancer Immunology
Beavis Laboratory
Darcy Laboratory
Lalaoui Laboratory
Parker Laboratory
Russell Laboratory
Trapani Laboratory
Voskoboinik Killer Cell Biology Laboratory
The Goode laboratory combines bioinformatics, genomics, molecular evolution and population genetics to study the evolutionary forces governing the formation of tumours and their responses to therapy, with an emphasis on the roles of genomic instability and transcriptional plasticity as drivers of drug resistance in cancer. Our work centres on prostate cancer and brain cancer, though our approaches are applicable to a range of solid tumours. The Oshlack Lab bioinformatics research group uses computational and statistical techniques to analyse and explore the transcriptome and genome. The group has a diverse and complementary skill set that includes statistics, computer science, genetics, software engineering, molecular biology and physics. We work on a range of projects from developing basic data analysis tools and statistical methods through to collaborative analysis of biological systems. We have major applications in cancer, kidney development and rare disease genomics. Read more about the Oshlack laboratory.
Computational Biology
Goode Laboratory
Oshlack Laboratory
The Clemons laboratory incorporates fundamental cancer biology research, pre-clinical development of innovative therapeutic strategies and translational research, with a focus on upper gastrointestinal cancers. Read more about the Clemons laboratory.
Gastrointestinal Cancer
Clemons Laboratory
The Neeson Laboratory explores the human immune system responses to tumour development and to immunotherapy. We do this using patient samples from cohort studies or clinical trials. Having made observations in these samples, we then explore immunotherapy drug combination mechanism of action in model systems to provide new information for rational use of these drugs in the clinic.
Human Immunology Translational Research
Neeson Laboratory
Drosophila lab studying organ size control, organ crosstalk and metabolism. We use the fruit fly Drosophila to study how organ size is maintained and how metabolism can shape organ growth. Read more about the Cheng laboratory. In the Cox laboratory, we use zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model system to study the metabolic regulation of growth during embryonic development, regeneration and cancer. Read more about the Cox laboratory. In the Harvey laboratory, we study mechanisms that control organ size during development and how deregulation of these processes contributes to human cancer. More specifically, we: Read more about the Harvey laboratory.
Organogenesis
Cheng Laboratory
Cox Laboratory
Harvey Laboratory
The Risbridger laboratory works closely with clinicians to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms that drive prostate cancer and benign disease, with the goal of providing better diagnosis and treatment for patients. The Haupt laboratory explores novel regulatory pathways governing tumour suppressors. Our research aims to answer the following questions: Radiation Oncology at Peter Mac is the largest and most academically active radiotherapy treatment centre in Australia. Our research aims to provide the most up-to-date and effective evidence-based treatment for patients who require radiotherapy. For more information see Radiation Oncology page.
Prostate Cancer
Risbridger Laboratory
Haupt Laboratory
Radiation Oncology Research
Translational Prostate Cancer Research
Furic Laboratory
The Stacker laboratory has an interest in the growth factors, growth factor receptors and signalling pathways that control cells in the tumour microenvironment, particularly those of the blood vessels, lymphatic vessels and stroma. Read more about the Stacker laboratory.
Tumour Angiogenesis & Microenvironment
Stacker Laboratory
The Bowtell laboratory has a major focus on the genomic characterisation of ovarian cancer, seeking to understand the biology of treatment response and resistance, and to translate these findings into new treatment approaches. In the Britt laboratory, researchers are interested in understanding what mediates breast cancer risk to develop novel treatments and preventatives. The major focus of the Campbell Laboratory is the identification of genes involved in the predisposition, initiation and progression of breast and ovarian cancer. Read more about the Campbell laboratory. The Gorringe lab focuses on cancer precision medicine: applying genomics to clinical questions in breast and ovarian cancers. Read more about the Gorringe laboratory.
Women’s Cancer
Bowtell Laboratory
Britt Laboratory
Campbell Laboratory
Gorringe Laboratory