Young researchers backed to change the future for Aussie kids with cancer
Three Victorian researchers have been named Children's Cancer CoLab Future Leaders Fellows, sharing more than $1.3 million to develop purpose-built therapies for deadly and hard-to-treat childhood cancers.
Their research will address a stark reality seen in Australia and around the world: more than 100 targeted cancer drugs have been approved for adults, but only 19 have ever been approved for use in children.
Prof Grant McArthur AO, Children’s Cancer CoLab Board Director and Scientific Advisor, said the CoLab Future Leaders will progress innovative therapies for some of the most devastating cancers affecting Australian children, including aggressive brain tumours.
"Aussie kids with cancer have spent far too long receiving therapies designed for adults. Their biology, cancers and responses to treatment are vastly different to adults. CoLab’s investment in these three talented researchers is how we build the specialised workforce to fast-track discoveries that children with cancer and their families desperately need.
Prof McArthur highlighted the innovative childhood cancer research the CoLab Future Leaders Fellows will pursue.
Two of our new fellows are pioneering CAR T-cell immunotherapy, a revolutionary approach that reprograms a child's own immune cells to destroy cancer, while a third is using artificial intelligence and epigenomics to decode the unique biology of childhood brain tumours. We have the talent, and now we have the research investment to make it count,” Prof McArthur added.
Margaret Fitzherbert, Children's Cancer Foundation (CCF) CEO, said the CoLab Future Leaders, partly funded by CCF, reflect what the Foundation’s donors have long championed.
"Our donors give because they want to see real change - safer, kinder therapies made for children's bodies, not scaled-down adult treatments. Childhood brain cancer is one of the cruellest diagnoses a family can receive, and these three researchers are pursuing exactly the kind of bold, innovative science that gives us genuine reason for hope,” Ms Fitzherbert said.
About CoLab’s Future Leaders Impact Program
CoLab's Future Leaders Impact Program, supported by CoLab’s major partners, the Victorian Government and Children’s Cancer Foundation, addresses a critical talent gap in Australia's paediatric oncology workforce by investing in emerging researchers, building specialist capability and creating sustainable career pathways. The program aims to retain world-leading expertise in Australia, foster multidisciplinary collaboration, and build Australia's international standing in childhood cancer research and care.
The CoLab Future Leaders
Dr Claire Sun | CoLab Mid-Career Researcher Fellow | $619,926
Lead bioinformatician on the world's largest paediatric cancer cell line collection, Dr Claire Sun from the Hudson Institute of Medical Research is combining AI and epigenomics to map the biological switches that drive childhood brain tumours, creating new precision drug targets and a clinical decision-support tool to match children with the treatments most likely to work for them. Read Dr Sun's bio and research project.
Dr Zoe Day | CoLab Early-Career Researcher Fellow | $440,277
Based at WEHI, Dr Day is developing CAR T-cell combination immunotherapies for DIPG, a childhood brain cancer with a median survival of less than one year. Her research investigates whether CAR T-cells can synergise with drugs, infiltrate the brain and deliver therapeutic responses directly to tumours, with the goal of replacing weeks of gruelling daily radiotherapy with monthly infusions. Read Dr Day's bio and research project.
Dr Stacie Wang | CoLab Clinician-Researcher Fellow | $267,950
A paediatric oncologist at The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) and researcher with WEHI, Dr Wang is studying which factors influence how well children respond to CAR T-cell therapy and how safely they come through it, including the chemotherapy they receive in the lead-up to their CAR T-cells. She is also working to establish Victoria's first CAR T clinical trial for children with brain cancer, targeting a protein called EphA3 found on many brain tumour cells. Read Dr Wang's bio and research project.
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