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Patients whose leukemias harbor a rearrangement of the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL/KMT2A) gene have a poor prognosis, especially when the disease strikes in infants. The poor clinical outcome linked to this aggressive disease and the detrimental treatment side-effects, particularly in children, warrant the urgent development of more effective and cancer-selective therapeutics.

The main aim of our Leukaemia Translational Research Team is to test innovative therapeutic approaches, with a focus on clinical translation of this knowledge, to improve the outcomes of children suffering from leukaemia.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and New Zealand Ministry of Health recommend all children aged ≥ 5 years receive either of the two mRNA COVID-19 vaccines: Comirnaty (Pfizer), available in both Australia and New Zealand, or Spikevax (Moderna), available in Australia only. Both vaccines are efficacious and safe in the general population, including children. Children and adolescents undergoing treatment for cancer and immunosuppressive therapy for non-malignant haematological conditions are particularly vulnerable, with an increased risk of severe or fatal COVID-19.

Sébastien Malinge PhD Laboratory Head, Translational Genomics in Leukaemia, Senior Research Fellow (University of Western Australia), Adjunct Senior

Laurence Rishi S. Sébastien Cheung Kotecha Malinge BPharm (Hons) MBA PhD MB ChB (Hons) MRCPCH FRACP PhD PhD Co-Head, Leukaemia Translational Research

Kids born with Down syndrome are at high risk of an array of health problems. One of the lesser-known complications is their increased risk of childhood leukaemia.

Dr Laurence Cheung is doing everything he can to end the threat of childhood leukemia. His research has the potential to change countless lives, but he also has another important job – being a dad to three beautiful children.

Current immunization guidelines recommend one dose of influenza vaccine for children aged ≥9 years and two doses for younger or vaccine-naïve children. However, children receiving chemotherapy have an attenuated immune response. We performed a prospective open-label study in children undergoing treatment for cancer at Perth Children's Hospital, Western Australia, to examine the safety and efficacy of a boosted influenza schedule.

It is now well accepted that germline or de novo genetic alterations predispose to cancer development, especially during childhood. Among them, constitutive trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome (DS), has been shown to predispose to acute leukemia affecting both the myeloid (ML-DS) and lymphoid (DS-ALL) lineages. ML-DS is associated with a good prognosis compared to children without DS, due in part to a higher sensitivity to conventional chemotherapy.

Invasive fungal disease (IFD) is a common and important complication in children with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). We describe the epidemiology of IFD in a large multicentre cohort of children with AML.