I am cellular immunologist determining the important host immune cell types and effector molecules that control tumour initiation, growth, and metastasis.
Targeting Tumour-Stromal Interactions In Pancreatic Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$410,095.00
Summary
Pancreatic cancer claims five Australian lives every day and is one of the nations most lethal diseases. Despite aggressive treatment regimes, there has been no improvement in patient survival in the last decade. Evidence suggests that targeting cancer cells alone is not enough. The intense stromal reaction inhibits drug delivery and increases the aggressiveness of the tumours. Thus, depletion of the stroma or pancreatic stellate cells is a potential therapeutic target.
Cancer immunology has emerged as a fundamental discipline of oncology and overwhelming new data from large patient studies reveals the importance of the immune reaction in patient prognosis. Professor Smyth has established a large body of work indicating that the immune reaction is rate limiting for the development of tumours. His previous fundamental work forms a platform to launch new studies that will greatly increase the sophistication with which we understand the various immune mechanisms t ....Cancer immunology has emerged as a fundamental discipline of oncology and overwhelming new data from large patient studies reveals the importance of the immune reaction in patient prognosis. Professor Smyth has established a large body of work indicating that the immune reaction is rate limiting for the development of tumours. His previous fundamental work forms a platform to launch new studies that will greatly increase the sophistication with which we understand the various immune mechanisms that control tumour initiation, growth and metastases. It is a major goal of Professor Smyth’s Australia Fellowship to understand why some tumours may be controlled by the immune response while others are apparently not. He has established mouse models of cancer where these questions can be directly addressed for the first time.Read moreRead less
Identification And Targeting Of A Potent NK Cell “checkpoint” In Tumour Immunity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$470,144.00
Summary
Cancer must evade detection by the immune system in order to develop. Natural Killer (NK) cells can detect and kill cancer cells. We have discovered a potent "checkpoint" in the NK cell activation pathway that desensitizes NK cells to growth factors and switches off their activation and killer function. When this checkpoint is inhibited, NK cells become hyper-activated and prevent most types of cancer metastasis in mice. Targeting this checkpoint in humans could revolutionise cancer therapy
Identification Of CIS As A Potent Checkpoint In NK Cell-mediated Tumour Immunity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$959,596.00
Summary
Cancer must evade detection by the immune system in order to develop. Natural Killer (NK) cells can detect and kill cancer cells. We have discovered a potent "checkpoint" in the NK cell activation pathway that desensitises NK cells to growth factors and switches off their activation and killer function. When this checkpoint is inhibited, NK cells are super activated and can prevent most types of cancer metastasis in mice. Targeting this checkpoint in humans could revolutionise cancer therapy.
Dynamic In Vivo Imaging Of Molecular And Cellular Events Shaping The Immune Response In Mouse Models And Human Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$401,361.00
Summary
We plan to develop the instruments and associated technologies required to directly visualise biological processes as the occur in real-time deep inside living organisms. Thus we will use two-photon microscopy to provide deep tissue imaging of immune cell interactions in mouse models and confocal endomicroscopy to provide molecular imaging of cancer biomarkers in patients with colorectal cancer.