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Brain Tumour Research

We strive for a future where no child will die from brain cancer because we have developed new therapies that will cure their disease.

The Brain Tumour Research Laboratory was established in 2011, bringing together the clinic and the laboratory to advance research into childhood brain tumours.

The team is a collaborative group of researchers dedicated to improving our understanding of paediatric brain tumour biology and finding more effective treatments to improve survival rates and quality of life for patients.

The skills of our team members are diverse and include laboratory scientists from academia and industry, clinical oncologists and neuro-surgeons.

Each member of the team brings their unique and varied experience to tackle our research questions. Researchers perform basic and pre-clinical research aimed at identifying the best targets for new therapies and effective new treatments for clinical trials.

Moreover, we collaborate with others who bring valuable expertise. These include, but are not limited to, radiologists (clinical and pre-clinical models), medical physicists (imaging), chemists (drug screening), pharmacologists (pre-clinical testing) and bioinformaticians (large scale analyses of brain tumour genomics).

The team has established a strong national and international reputation and is recognised as being the largest research team in Australia primarily focused on paediatric brain tumours. The major goals of the group are intensely focused on improving the wellbeing of children with cancer.

With strong ties between The Kids and Perth Children's Hospital, the team knows what it takes to get a new treatment into the clinic and their research goals are sharply focused on providing the pre-clinical evidence required to form the basis of new clinical trials.

The overarching scientific goals of our team approach to improving outcomes for children with brain tumours are:

  • Elucidate the molecular basis of different brain tumour types, including medulloblastoma and ependymoma among others, through the analysis of primary patient specimens
  • Improve understanding of the molecular events contributing to these diseases, by analysing the impact of altered signalling pathway activity on the survival, proliferation, invasiveness and tumorigenicity of brain tumour cells
  • Develop novel preclinical models of paediatric brain tumours by relevant targeted genetic mutations to provide systems in which to test new treatments
  • Obtain and test new therapies in appropriate brain tumour models through collaboration with members of the WA Kids Cancer Centre, other academic partners, and industry groups
  • Translate our findings into improved therapies and design of new clinical trials, which we achieve through national and international collaborations with clinical trials consortia such as Australian Children’s Cancer Trials (ACCT) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG).

Team leader

Brainchild Fellow; Co-Head, Brain Tumour Research

Co-Head, Brain Tumour Research

Team members (15)

Dr Annabel Short
Dr Annabel Short

BMedRes (hons), PhD

Pirate Ship Research Fellow

Dr Meegan Howlett
Dr Meegan Howlett

BSc(Hons), PhD

Senior Postdoctoral Researcher and Research Project Manager

Senior Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr Brittany Dewdney
Dr Brittany Dewdney

BSc, MBSc, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr Chris Butler

Dr Chris Butler

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr Zahra Abbas

Dr Zahra Abbas

Postdoctoral Researcher

Hilary Hii

Hilary Hii

Research Officer

Brooke Carline

Brooke Carline

Research Assistant

Jacob Byrne

Jacob Byrne

Research Assistant

Sally Larder

Sally Larder

Research Assistant

Alex Monson

Alex Monson

Research Assistant

Piyusha Johnson

Piyusha Johnson

Research Assistant

Hetal Dholaria

Hetal Dholaria

Clinical Fellow (Research) and PhD Student

Chloe Buckingham

Chloe Buckingham

Honours Student

Brain Tumour Research projects

Featured projects

Developing and characterising juvenile models of aggressive paediatric brain cancers for the evaluation of novel immunotherapies.

While profound treatment responses have been realised using immunotherapy for some cancer types, this is yet to be seen for paediatric brain cancer patients.

Finding new, safer and targeted therapies for paediatric brain cancer that amplify responses to radiation therapy

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.

Publications

Reports and Findings

Show all Reports and Findings

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Central Nervous System Tumors Harboring NTRK Gene Fusions

Tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) fusions are detected in less than 2% of central nervous system tumors. There are limited data on the clinical course of affected patients. 

Determining risk features for medulloblastoma in the molecular era

IDH-mutant gliomas in children and adolescents - from biology to clinical trials

Gliomas account for nearly 30% of all primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors in children and adolescents and young adults (AYA), contributing to significant morbidity and mortality. The updated molecular classification of gliomas defines molecularly diverse subtypes with a spectrum of tumors associated with age-distinct incidence.

Coupling of response biomarkers between tumor and peripheral blood in patients undergoing chemoimmunotherapy

Platinum-based chemotherapy in combination with anti-PD-L1 antibodies has shown promising results in mesothelioma. However, the immunological mechanisms underlying its efficacy are not well understood and there are no predictive biomarkers to guide treatment decisions.

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