Cancer

Our program is prevention-led: we uncover modifiable drivers of cancer and translate them into earlier detection, risk prediction, and better treatment outcomes.

Combining biosensors, with synthetic, digital and space biology, we co-design equitable solutions with metropolitan, regional and remote communities, including First Nations peoples.

We investigate lifestyle, environmental and biological factors that initiate or accelerate cancer, identifying targets for prevention. We build and validate low-cost, point-of-care biosensors and synthetic/digital/space biology platforms to predict risk, detect cancer early, and monitor treatment response and relapse. These technologies are integrated with precision therapies and molecular studies to improve outcomes while ensuring accessibility and cultural safety through partnerships with rural, regional and First Nations communities. Our pipeline spans discovery to implementation, moving innovations from bench to bedside and into community settings.

Members

Program leads

Erinna Lee group

Erinna Lee group

Gut Biology and Disease Signalling

Lisa Mielke group

Lisa Mielke group

Mucosal immunity and cancer

Program members

Brian Abbey group

Brian Abbey group

Coherent X-ray science and materials characterisation

David Winkler group

Molecular AI and machine learning

David Hoxley group

Biosensing applications of wide bandgap semiconductors

Donna Whelan group

Donna Whelan group

Biophysics, DNA damage, fluorescence, single molecule imaging

Doug Fairlie group

Doug Fairlie group

Cell Death and Survival

Ewen Silvester group

Helen Irving group

Helen Irving group

Inflammation

Kazuhide Shaun Okuda group

Kazuhide Shaun Okuda group

Vascular Therapeutics and Regeneration

Narelle Brack group

Surface modification and characterisation of advanced materials

Nilmini Wickramasinghe group

OPTUS Chair - Digital Health

Pamali Fonseka group

Patrick Humbert group

Patrick Humbert group

Cancer biology - cell polarity and tissue architecture

Paul Pigram group

Interactions at surfaces

Peter Barnard group

Synthetic organic and inorganic chemistry

Saimon Moraes Silva group (La Sense)

Sensors and Biosensors - DNA-based biosensors, protein-based biosensors, point-of-care biosensors, antifouling coatings, drug delivery systems,  nanotechnology

Suresh Mathivanan group

Suresh Mathivanan group

Exosomes, secretome and systems biology

Yuning Hong group

Fluorescent probes, cell imaging, protein misfolding and neurodegenerative diseases