Dr Stacie Wang

Dr Stacie Wang

CoLab Clinician-Researcher Future Leader Fellow

Dr Stacie Wang is a paediatric oncologist at the Children's Cancer Centre, The Royal Children's Hospital. Dr Wang grew up in Adelaide and moved to Melbourne for her medical studies at The University of Melbourne, obtaining her MBBS/BMedSci in 2009. She undertook basic paediatric training at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) and Monash Children’s Hospital, prior to completing her fellowship in training in paediatric haematology/oncology at the RCH.

During her fellowship, Dr Wang cultivated a keen interest in immunotherapy and became very interested in the concept of harnessing a patient’s own immune system to fight their own cancer. As such, she undertook a PhD in immunotherapy at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in 2018. Dr Wang’s PhD focused on Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, a branch of immunotherapy that engineers a patient’s T cells to be able to specifically recognise and kill the cancer cells in their body. CAR T-cell therapy has been extremely successful in leukaemia, but applying this revolutionary ‘fourth pillar’ of cancer therapy to brain cancers has been less successful to date.

Dr Wang’s primary research interests are in 1) improving the way we currently deliver CAR T-cell therapy to children with leukaemia in Australia, and 2) broadening the utility of CAR T-cell therapy to other children with poor prognosis cancers, in particular brain tumours.

Dr Stacie Wang's research

Revolutionising CAR T-cell delivery in Australia

The challenge

CAR T-cell therapy is a cancer immunotherapy showing great promise for children with life-threatening cancers. It uses a child’s own immune cells (T-cells), which are collected and modified in the lab to recognise and destroy cancer cells. This therapy has helped some children with leukaemia achieve remission after standard treatments failed. However, nearly half relapse within two years.

One key issue is the chemotherapy given beforehand. Currently, all children receive the same standard dose, even though they process drugs differently. This ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach can cause harmful side effects or fail to prepare the body properly. Dr Wang aims to personalise chemotherapy dosing to improve both safety and outcomes.

In Australia, CAR T therapy is currently limited to certain types of leukaemia. Children with aggressive brain tumours like Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG) - a cancer with no cure - still lack access to these therapies or clinical trials in Victoria. Dr Wang and her team aim to expand access to CAR T trials for children with brain cancer and to develop smarter, multi-targeted CARs that are less likely to fail.

The research

Aim 1: Improving chemotherapy dosing to make CAR-T therapy safer and more effective

Before children receive CAR T therapy, they are given chemotherapy to help prepare their bodies. However, every child is currently given the same dose, even though children can react very differently to the drug. Some may get too much, increasing the risk of side effects, while others may get too little, making the CAR T therapy less effective.

Dr Wang and her team aim to develop a way to personalise chemotherapy dosing for each child based on how their body processes the drug. To do this, they will collect blood samples at different times after the drug is given to measure how it moves through the body. This is known as pharmacokinetics.

Pharmacists at hospitals across Australia will help with collecting the samples and recording any side effects the children experience. The team will also analyse each child’s genes to see how their body handles the drug. Over time, this information will help the team to create dosing guidelines tailored to each child’s unique biology.

Aim 2: Preparing for a clinical trial of a new CAR-T cell therapy for children with brain cancer

Currently, there are no CAR T-cell treatments available in Victoria for children with deadly brain tumours. Dr Wang and her team aim to change that by developing a clinical trial to test a new CAR T-cell therapy targeting a protein called EphA3, which they have identified on many brain tumour cells.

This research builds on years of lab work, where the team has shown that EphA3 CAR T-cells can effectively kill brain cancer cells in lab tests and animal models. These early results are very promising.

As part of clinical trial development, Dr Wang will design and write the clinical trial protocol - a central component for ensuring patient safety. This protocol will be submitted to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for approval under the Clinical Trial Notification (CTN) scheme, a required step before human testing.

Lab work, including quality control assays, will be performed by research scientists in the Jenkins lab at WEHI. Dr Wang will incorporate all relevant results into writing this clinical trial protocol. She plans for this trial to begin with a small group of adults to assess safety, followed by children. Her team will include special measures to protect children, such as close monitoring for side effects and adapting the treatment to meet their unique needs.

The impact

Dr Wang’s research will directly address two unmet needs: safer treatment for children already receiving CAR-T therapy, and new options for those who currently have none.

Short-term impacts include:

• Safer chemotherapy dosing strategies for children

• Design of a first novel CAR T trial for brain cancer in Victoria.

Medium-longer term impacts include:

• Launch of a clinical trial offering access to a new, locally developed CAR T therapy

• Improved survival and quality of life for children with hard-to-treat cancers.

Beyond research, the goal is real-world impact: sharing findings in accessible formats, informing treatment protocols, and working with policymakers to improve national standards. At its core, the project aims to deliver safer, smarter, and more personalised treatment options for children with cancer.

Lived experience collaboration

This project is deeply informed by the experiences of children with cancer and their families. It prioritises ethical, inclusive research practices. Dr Wang will keep consumer groups at RCH informed on study progress through formal meetings that she will initiate with the Family Advisory Council at RCH.

Children’s Cancer CoLab Funding Information

Fellowship Awarded: $267,950

Fellowship Timeline: January 2027 to December 2029

‍Impact Program: Future Leaders

Scientific and Lived Experience Review: Scientific Advisory Committee and Patient and Family Advisor Committee

Lead Institution: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research