Latest news with #GarvanInstituteofMedicalResearch
West Australian
6 days ago
- Health
- West Australian
Ambitious project aims to stop breast cancer recurring
An ambitious goal to halve the number of deaths from breast cancer could be one step closer after a landmark investment in a medical research program. The National Breast Cancer Foundation has awarded a $25 million grant to researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. The grant will fund the "AllClear" program, a research project focused on stopping recurrence of breast cancer, led by Garvan Institute Associate Professor Christine Chaffer. It will be vitally important for patients such as Amy Busdon, a mother of three girls, who was diagnosed in early 2024 just before her 40th birthday. With no family history, she was shocked when, the same week she was diagnosed, her mum called to tell her she too had breast cancer and would be undergoing treatment. "(The diagnosis) is just shattering in an instant," Ms Busdon said. "Everything just flashes before you. You think of the girls and your husband and start planning their life without you in it." In Australia, more than 21,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer and about 3300 die from the disease each year. For some survivors, the breast cancer cells hide quietly in the body, commonly in the bone, and can reappear years or decades after the initial treatment. About 15 per cent of people will experience a cancer recurrence, which can often be life threatening. "We want to understand these cells and improve how we can find them because they are the ones we need to eradicate to stop recurrence and prevent patients from metastasis which can be really hard to treat," Prof Chaffer told AAP. "The research will also help us to understand what makes those cells different and work on treatments to eradicate dormant cells." The AllClear team will study cancer cells in the bone to understand how they hide, how they are different to cells in the primary tumour and why current treatments may fail. The research will help develop new therapies and fast-track their testing through clinical trials. Patients who have faced and treated a breast cancer diagnosis cannot currently be told whether their cancer is likely to recur, which Prof Chaffer said could cause enormous stress. "The fear of recurrence is huge and patients are living with that after cancer diagnosis - you can't underestimate the detrimental side effects of that fear," she said. For Ms Busdon, it's something she thinks about every day. "I've got three beautiful girls and I want to make sure I'm here for them when they grow up," she said. "Breast cancer research is so important and it gives me a lot of hope." The Garvan Institute research program aims to help patients know if they are "all clear" of cancer cells which could recur. "Being able to predict that will be a world a first," Prof Chaffer said. Australia's leading not-for-profit organisation which funds breast cancer research, NBCF has the ambitious goal of zero deaths from the disease. The death rate from breast cancer in Australia had reduced by 40 per cent in the past three decades which showed the needle could be moved, NBCF chief executive Cleola Anderiesz said. "We didn't improve this rate simply by good luck. It's been because of significant investment in research," Dr Anderiesz said. "The NBCF is completely community funded and our ability to invest in this extraordinary research is due to the generosity of our supporters."
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Health
- Perth Now
Ambitious project aims to stop breast cancer recurring
An ambitious goal to halve the number of deaths from breast cancer could be one step closer after a landmark investment in a medical research program. The National Breast Cancer Foundation has awarded a $25 million grant to researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. The grant will fund the "AllClear" program, a research project focused on stopping recurrence of breast cancer, led by Garvan Institute Associate Professor Christine Chaffer. It will be vitally important for patients such as Amy Busdon, a mother of three girls, who was diagnosed in early 2024 just before her 40th birthday. With no family history, she was shocked when, the same week she was diagnosed, her mum called to tell her she too had breast cancer and would be undergoing treatment. "(The diagnosis) is just shattering in an instant," Ms Busdon said. "Everything just flashes before you. You think of the girls and your husband and start planning their life without you in it." In Australia, more than 21,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer and about 3300 die from the disease each year. For some survivors, the breast cancer cells hide quietly in the body, commonly in the bone, and can reappear years or decades after the initial treatment. About 15 per cent of people will experience a cancer recurrence, which can often be life threatening. "We want to understand these cells and improve how we can find them because they are the ones we need to eradicate to stop recurrence and prevent patients from metastasis which can be really hard to treat," Prof Chaffer told AAP. "The research will also help us to understand what makes those cells different and work on treatments to eradicate dormant cells." The AllClear team will study cancer cells in the bone to understand how they hide, how they are different to cells in the primary tumour and why current treatments may fail. The research will help develop new therapies and fast-track their testing through clinical trials. Patients who have faced and treated a breast cancer diagnosis cannot currently be told whether their cancer is likely to recur, which Prof Chaffer said could cause enormous stress. "The fear of recurrence is huge and patients are living with that after cancer diagnosis - you can't underestimate the detrimental side effects of that fear," she said. For Ms Busdon, it's something she thinks about every day. "I've got three beautiful girls and I want to make sure I'm here for them when they grow up," she said. "Breast cancer research is so important and it gives me a lot of hope." The Garvan Institute research program aims to help patients know if they are "all clear" of cancer cells which could recur. "Being able to predict that will be a world a first," Prof Chaffer said. Australia's leading not-for-profit organisation which funds breast cancer research, NBCF has the ambitious goal of zero deaths from the disease. The death rate from breast cancer in Australia had reduced by 40 per cent in the past three decades which showed the needle could be moved, NBCF chief executive Cleola Anderiesz said. "We didn't improve this rate simply by good luck. It's been because of significant investment in research," Dr Anderiesz said. "The NBCF is completely community funded and our ability to invest in this extraordinary research is due to the generosity of our supporters."
Hans India
28-06-2025
- Health
- Hans India
New AI tool to revolutionise personalised cancer treatment
New Delhi: An international team of scientists has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that could revolutionise cancer treatment by mapping cellular diversity within tumours. The innovation tackles tumour heterogeneity in oncology, where varied cell populations cause treatment resistance and recurrence, Xinhua news agency reported. The AAnet AI tool, developed by the Sydney-based Garvan Institute of Medical Research in collaboration with the Yale School of Medicine in the US, uses deep learning to study gene activity in single cancer cells. It finds five different cell types within tumours, each with its own behaviour and risk of spreading. This helps doctors understand cancer better than older methods, which treated all tumour cells the same, said the multinational research team. 'Heterogeneity is a problem because currently, we treat tumors as if they are made up of the same cell. This means we give one therapy that kills most cells in the tumor by targeting a particular mechanism. But not all cancer cells may share that mechanism,' said the study's co-senior author, Associate Professor Christine Chaffer from the Garvan Institute. As a result, some cancer cells survive, and the disease can return, Chaffer said. She added that AAnet provides a way to biologically characterise tumour diversity, enabling the design of combination therapies that target all cell groups at once. Associate Professor Smita Krishnaswamy of Yale University, a co-developer of the AI, indicated that this is the first method to distill cellular complexity into practical archetypes, potentially transforming precision oncology. The technology is ready for clinical use, with plans to combine AI analysis and traditional diagnostics to create treatments tailored to each tumour's cell type. Validated in breast cancer, it also shows promise for other cancers and autoimmune diseases, marking a shift toward personalised medicine, revealed the study published in the journal Cancer Discovery.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Proto Axiom and St Vincent's Curran Foundation join forces to host Australia's largest medical pitch day
SYDNEY, June 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Proto Axiom, Australia's leading biotech incubator, and St Vincent's Curran Foundation unite to launch Challenger Pitch for Health, the nation's largest medical and biotech pitch event, in Sydney in March 2026. Challenger Pitch for Health will award $500,000 in grants to outstanding translational research projects drawn from universities, medical research institutes and hospitals across Australia. Finalists will pitch live to a panel of investors, clinicians and industry leaders, with four grants on offer. A new national platform will bring two opportunities together Proto Axiom Challenger Summit – open nationally to researchers in universities, institutes and the public health system. St Vincent's Pitch for Health – focused on Precinct teams from St Vincent's Hospital Sydney, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. In 2025 the two inaugural programs attracted more than 75 applicants and 300 attendees at their respective finals. By combining our finals into a single showcase, Challenger Pitch for Health will amplify visibility for researchers, foster collaboration and streamline pathways to capital. Event highlights Up to 16 finalists (up to eight from each program) will present five-minute pitches. Expert panels and keynote addresses will explore trends in clinical translation, investment and health‑tech commercialisation. Winners will share $500,000 across four grant categories. 2024 grant recipients Proto Axiom Challenger Summit Dr Daniel Beard, University of Newcastle – Improving Blood Flow for Better Outcomes in Stroke Patients Chynna-Loren Sheremeta, University of Queensland – Innovative Treatment for Paediatric Atopic Dermatitis St Vincent's Pitch for Health A/Prof Venessa Chin, St Vincent's Hospital Sydney and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research – Comprehensive Lung Cancer Diagnostics (Precision‑DX) Dr Daren Korbie, Garvan Institute of Medical Research– Circulating Tumour DNA: A New Blood Test for Breast Cancer Quotes "Challenger Pitch for Health will give Australia's best clinician‑scientists a national stage and the capital they need to move bold ideas out of the lab and into patients' lives."— Anthony Liveris, CEO, Proto Axiom "Pitch for Health succeeded in catalysing innovation within the St Vincent's Precinct. Partnering with Proto Axiom scales that impact nationwide, bringing new collaborators and investors to our researchers."— Shanthini Naidoo, CEO, St Vincent's Curran Foundation How to apply Medical pitch days are events where individuals or teams present innovative healthcare-related ideas, products, or startups to a panel of judges, investors, or stakeholders. The goal can be to secure funding, partnerships, mentorship, or other support to advance the project. These events are similar to startup pitch competitions but are focused specifically on the medical and healthcare sector. Applications will open August 2025. Full guidelines, key dates and submission portals for both grant streams will be available soon. To register your interest and receive information when available follow this link. About Proto Axiom Proto Axiom is Australia's first dedicated biotech incubator, providing hands‑on support and capital from proof‑of‑concept through to growth. Its investment‑plus‑incubation model accelerates breakthrough science toward commercial About St Vincent's Curran Foundation The St Vincent's Curran Foundation raises philanthropic funds to advance excellence and innovation in patient care, clinical education and medical research across St Vincent's Hospitals and facilities in New South Wales. View original content: SOURCE Proto Axiom
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Which Arm Gets Vaccinated Could Play a Role in Your Immune Response
The arm you offer up for vaccination could impact your immediate immune response. But here's the catch: scientists still aren't sure if it's better to give a secondary booster shot to the same arm or a different one. Currently, only a handful of studies have explored whether you should switch sides between a first and second jab, and the ones on COVID vaccines have produced mixed results. Following the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19, for instance, researchers in Germany found that giving multiple jabs to the same arm produced better immune responses two weeks later. Then, a follow-up study from researchers in the US found the exact opposite. According to that randomized trial, switching arms between shots resulted in a four-fold increase in COVID-specific antibodies four weeks after the second jab. Get ready for yet another contradictory finding. Researchers in Australia are weighing in on the debate, and their experiments on mice and humans agree with the same-arm study. The trial, led by Rama Dhenni from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Alexandra Carey Hoppé from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), involved 30 healthy participants who had not yet had COVID-19. All participants received two shots of the Pfizer vaccine, three weeks apart – 20 had both shots in the same arm, while 10 got the booster in the opposite arm to the first jab. Those in the same-arm group showed a boosted immune response in the week after their second shot, according to blood and lymph node analysis. "Those who received both doses in the same arm produced neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 significantly faster – within the first week after the second dose," explains Carey-Hoppé. "These antibodies from the same arm group were also more effective against variants like Delta and Omicron," adds immunologist Mee Ling Munier from UNSW. Still, the apparent immune boost from a same-arm vaccination was ultimately short-lived. Four weeks after the booster, those who received a jab in the same arm showed similar antibody levels to those who received a jab in the opposite arm. This suggests that the strengthened immune response from same-arm vaccinations does not last longer than a month. "If you've had your COVID jabs in different arms, don't worry – our research shows that over time the difference in protection diminishes," says Munier. "But during a pandemic, those first weeks of protection could make an enormous difference at a population level." Further research is needed, but Munier suspects that this same-arm vaccine strategy could help achieve herd immunity faster. To explore why that might be, Munier and colleagues used mouse models. When mice were given a second vaccine to the same side of the body, it increased their immune response in that side's lymph nodes. Lymph nodes drain fluid from their respective sides of the body. When a vaccine is administered to one arm, it introduces the corresponding lymph node to a weakened pathogen (or its components). Immune cells called macrophages, which guard the entry point to the lymph nodes, handcuff these invaders and take them to unique players called memory B cells (Bmems). These long-lived cells memorize what the danger looks like for future reference, and they also enter a specialized factory within the lymph node to trigger the production of antibodies tailored to that specific invader. In mouse models, when a second vaccine was given to the same side of the body, the draining lymph node's sentinel macrophages were already primed to respond to that threat. This means they jumped to action faster, communicating with "large clusters of reactivated Bmems" to send 10 times as many Bmems into the antibody factory as the non-draining lymph node. Similar to the mouse data, when 18 of the human participants had their lymph nodes biopsied with a fine needle, the researchers found those who received a same-arm jab had increased percentages of Bmems in these antibody factories. While these results are intriguing and shed some much-needed light on how vaccines work to boost our immune systems, Dhenni and colleagues argue further research is needed to make any practical recommendations. The new findings may be more relevant to initial boosters given in quick succession, for instance, not necessarily seasonal vaccines that can be given months, if not years, apart, when immune responses on both sides of the body have time to balance out. "This is a fundamental discovery in how the immune system organizes itself to respond better to external threats – nature has come up with this brilliant system and we're just now beginning to understand it," says immunologist Tri Phan. The study was published in Cell. Brisk Walking Could Lower Your Risk of Heart Rhythm Abnormalities A Small Drop in Vaccinations Could Spread Measles to Millions, Study Warns This Severe Brain Disorder Is Common But Often Goes Undiagnosed
