Investigators
Raelene Endersby, Nick Gottardo, Jessica Buck, Annabel Short, Meegan Howlett, Jacqueline Whitehouse, Imran Khan, Hilary Hii, Mani Kuchibhotla, Brooke Carline, Jacob Byrne, Ranjith Palanisamy, Sally Larder, Hannah Smolders, Hetal Dholaria, Zahra Abbas, Aiden Boonnark
Project description
Radiation therapy is an essential component of brain cancer treatment. However, the high doses currently required are extremely damaging to the growing brains and bodies of children. Sadly, survivors often suffer debilitating and life-long side-effects from treatment. We have identified several new drugs called “inhibitors of the DNA damage response pathway” and proven that they enhance the tumour killing capacity of radiation therapy. We now want to understand which of these drugs or drug combinations work best, how they function, when they should be administered and how safe they are. Our goal is to find safe, effective new drugs that facilitate a reduction in the harmful dose of radiation without compromising survival to improve outcomes for children suffering deadly brain cancers.
Collaborators
- Prof Martin Ebert (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Department of Physics, UWA)
- Prof Joshua Dass (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital)
- Prof Martine Roussel (St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, TE, USA)
- Prof Brandon Wainwright (University of Qld)
Partners
- Pirate Ship Foundation