Funded projects

Targeted treatments for brain tumours: Associating specific drug transporter expression in patient tumours with their respective drug carrier molecules to deliver anticancer therapeutics.

Each year, over 1200 New Zealanders are diagnosed with primary brain tumours, and 1 in 4 cancer patients develop secondary tumour metastases to the brain. Both forms often have poor prognoses, primarily due to the limited permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to effective anticancer agents. To address this, we developed a BBB-crossing drug carrier system that leverages organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs), which are upregulated in the tumour vasculature and cells, to deliver anticancer agents to glioblastoma tumours - the most common primary malignant brain tumour. This project aims to investigate other common brain tumours, including brain metastases, by 1) determining the OATP subtypes expressed in these brain tumours and 2) optimising the drug carrier design for each OATP expressed in each tumour type. We anticipate that this project will broaden the potential of our drug carrier to deliver efficacious therapeutics to a greater number of brain tumour patients.

Epigenetic marker of early colorectal cancer onset

Cancer is a multi-factorial disease commonly associated with ageing. Alarmingly, the incidence of early-onset cancer (adults aged <50 years) is rapidly increasing globally. Specifically, early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) is referred to as an emerging global epidemic and is particularly prevalent in New Zealand. Factors that drive EOCRC, their molecular make up and markers of risk assessment currently remain unknown. We aim to generate DNA methylation and expression profiles of EOCRC to identify age-dependent and age-independent epigenetic drivers to enable risk prediction, assessment and new prevention strategies in young people who have an elevated risk of EOCRC.

Investigating resistance mechanisms to MAPK signalling inhibitors in melanoma

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. Of all the countries in the world, New Zealand has the highest rate of death due to melanoma. While treatments like immunotherapies and targeted therapies have shown clinical success, many patients fail to respond to these treatments because the cancer cells become resistant to the drugs. This highlights the urgent need for new treatment strategies to overcome drug resistance. In this research, I aim to use new gene-editing technologies to identify genes associated with drug resistance in melanoma. This can help us discover new drug targets and improve treatment options for melanoma patients.