Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute

20/01/2026

🎉 MRFF grants for new cancer clinical trials 🎉

ONJCRI is thrilled to announce that Professor Eliza Hawkes and Professor Hui Gan have received significant Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grants to activate new and impactful clinical trials for patients with cancer.

⭐️ Prof Hawkes received $3.49 million to commence the Radio-GLO study.

This study will investigate the use of radiotherapy to improve the efficacy of an existing immunotherapy, glofitamab, in relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive type of blood cancer.

⭐️ Prof Gan received $798,137 to initiate the HEARTY pilot study.

This study explores a precision oncology approach to test radiation-sparing therapies in younger glioblastoma patients. Glioblastoma is a brain cancer for which current treatments are limited and often hard to tolerate.

The clinical teams are looking forward to launching these clinical trials and to begin recruiting Australian patients at different trial sites.

These two new trials are a significant addition to ONJCRI’s existing portfolio of clinical trials and are a demonstration of our commitment to improving outcomes for blood and brain cancer patients.

A huge congratulations to both Prof Hawkes and Prof Gan!

Read more: https://ow.ly/ByK050XZUv8

15/01/2026

🎯 Our focus for 2026

After laying the foundations of our Impact Strategy 2025–2029, the work continues in 2026.

Because one of our core values is transparency, we strive to share what happens ‘behind the scenes’ at ONJCRI, and how we plan to improve outcomes for all cancer patients.

In 2026, we will:

🔬 Invest in and use cutting-edge technologies to make discoveries faster.

🧬 Focus our efforts on research that can be applied across a variety of cancer types.

🌎 Build on our existing collaborations with local and global partners to increase knowledge-sharing and move promising research closer to real-world application.

👍 Embed robust ethical and regulatory practices and training into all stages of research, from bedside, to bench, to bedside.

💛 Ensure sustainable and inclusive approaches are integrated into daily operations and strategic planning.

Our goal is to develop cancer treatments and diagnostics that are more effective, tolerable and accessible for all.

To those who have followed our journey to date, thank you for believing in our mission.

For those who are just getting to know us, welcome to the ONJCRI community!

We are looking forward to sharing our 2026 breakthroughs and impact stories with you.

If you would like to stay up to date with our news, subscribe to our newsletter: https://ow.ly/LLHF50XX26Q

05/01/2026

🔬 Science Meets Art 2025 🎨

‘The Beginning’ by Rebecca Brown, PhD student

The base of the structure that feeds our children. This area is the beginning of the branches of a region of milk ducts, where they spread out like branches of a tree into the breast tissue.

We can see the beautiful, two-layered ductal structure that the cells create, in the pinky-orange colour, with immune cells patrolling to keep everything in check, in white and green.

This is the natural, healthy breast, untouched by cancer.

💡 All of our Science Meets Art 2025 artworks are available for purchase and directly support cancer research. Discover our masterpieces: https://sciencemeetsart.com.au/shop/

01/01/2026

📆 2025 in review 🎉

Marked by cutting-edge discoveries, our strategy launch, and new state-of-the-art facilities, 2025 was a year of significant change for ONJCRI.

Implementing our new Impact Strategy is the beginning of an exciting chapter for the institute. In 2025, we laid the foundations critical to our success over the next four years.

With so many highlights to choose from in 2025, it was challenging to summarise such a milestone year down to a few.

⭐ Some of our research and clinical trial achievements:
• Discovering a link between the nervous system and bowel cancer.
• Achieving significant results in our rare cancers clinical trial.
• Discovering novel nanoparticle structures to improve cancer treatment delivery.

🎉 While the funding landscape is more competitive than ever, our researchers secured research grants from fantastic organisations including the CASS Foundation, Cancer Council Victoria, Tour de Cure Australia, Pankind, Pancreatic Cancer Australia, Colorectal Cancer Alliance, and government funding from MRFF and ARC.

🎓 We continued to nurture the next generation of cancer researchers with eight PhD candidates delivering exceptional completion seminars.

🥼 With four new laboratories joining our ranks, the institute reached its largest size ever recorded.

🔬 Our infrastructure and facilities were optimised for our researchers:
• The Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) Centre for Precision Medicine and mRNA-LNP platforms were officially opened.
• A generous donor gifted the institute cutting-edge spatial proteomics technologies.

💛 Our fabulous donors and supporters were by our side along the way:
• Tour de Cure VIC Discovery Tour 2025 raised over $570,000 for our research.
• Over a dozen fundraisers and events were organised in support of our research.

🗣️ And finally, our Patient Advocacy Program was launched, inviting people affected by cancer to use their lived experience to help power our research.

Thank you for being on the journey with our team in 2025. We look forward to sharing our breakthroughs and impact stories with you in 2026.

If you would like to stay up to date with our news, subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.onjcri.org.au/subscribe-to-our-newsletter/

29/12/2025

🔬 Science Meets Art 2025 🎨

‘The Second Brain in the Colon’ by Dr Pavitha Parathan, Postdoctoral Researcher

Did you know your gut is packed with nerves? So many, it’s sometimes called your “second brain”?

This image shows a healthy human colon, with special stains highlighting different parts: the green marks the lining of the gut, magenta shows the sensory nerve fibres, and red highlights the cell nuclei.

Scientists are discovering that tumour cells can hijack these nerve fibres to help themselves grow.

It’s a colourful peek into the secret conversations happening inside your colon!

💡 All of our Science Meets Art 2025 artworks are available for purchase and directly support cancer research. Discover our masterpieces: https://sciencemeetsart.com.au/shop/

22/12/2025

🔬 Science Meets Art 2025 🎨

‘Crystal Nebula’ by Andrew Li, PhD student

Blocks of glass rise from a quiet sea. In the fade from pink to white, rigid geometric crystals grow in a field of static.

They are not alive, nor do they serve the cells they displace, but they establish their space with stark symmetry: a strange architecture born from evaporation and chance.

A momentary structure, captured before it disappears.

💡 All of our Science Meets Art 2025 artworks are available for purchase and directly support cancer research. Discover our masterpieces: https://ow.ly/4Wma50XGCWV

22/12/2025

🎉 We’re excited to share that the Austin Medical Research Foundation (AMRF), which supports medical research across the Austin precinct, has awarded grants to eight projects led by researchers from ONJCRI.

This funding supports ONJCRI's mission to develop more effective, accessible and tolerable cancer treatments for all people.

Congratulations to the ONJCRI grant recipients:

Dr Pavitha Parathan – Repurposing Existing Anti-Migraine Therapies to Reduce Colorectal and Gastric Cancer Growth

Dr Andrew Guirguis – Stopping blood cancer before it starts

Dr Sagun Parakh – Personalising treatment for Early-Stage Lung Cancer

Dr Teresa Sadras – Overcoming Targeted Treatment Resistance in Leukemia

Dr Shiyao Li – A new RNA therapy for hard-to-treat bowel cancer

Dr Quentin Gouil – Building long-lasting immune cells for leukaemia treatment

Dr Zhipeng Cao – New targeted immunotherapy to treat cancer

Dr Chamikara Liyanage – Boosting the immune system to fight breast cancer effectively

The AMRF funding encompasses both early-career innovation grants and competitive project funding, reflecting projects led by researchers at all stages of their careers.

We congratulate all AMRF grant recipients and can't wait to see how this support accelerates discoveries that could transform patient outcomes. 🌟

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21/12/2025

📣 Join our Patient Advocacy Program 💛

Have you been directly impacted by cancer, as a patient, carer or loved one?

Your voice can transform outcomes for cancer patients. You do not need any qualifications or previous experience. All that is required is a passion for change and a willingness to share your voice.

Our Patient Advocates shape how we approach our research by:

Providing input into grants design and reporting.

Taking part in consultations.

Participating in focus groups and joining committees to share their experience and perspectives.

Everyone’s experience of cancer is different, and that is exactly why your voice matters.

If you are curious to learn more, or to get involved and help shape breakthrough cancer research, we would love to hear from you.

💌 Reach out to our dedicated Patient Advocacy Working Group at patientadvocacy@onjcri.org.au

➡️ Learn more: https://ow.ly/wh8K50XHXKY

📸 Bianca, one of our fantastic Patient Advocates who cared for her dad, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2003 until 2005 and her mum diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 who is in complete remission.

19/12/2025

🛡️ Molecular safety switch shields cancer cells from the immune system 🎚️

ONJCRI researchers have discovered how a gene called TAK1 acts like a molecular safety switch, protecting cancer cells from attack by the immune system.

When TAK1 is switched off, cancer cells are much easier for the immune system to eliminate.

Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Anne Huber says: “It is known that TAK1 promotes cancer cell survival and blocks cell death, however we didn’t know that cancer cells use this tactic to avoid killing by the immune system.”

Many cancers are treated with immunotherapy, a powerful therapy that boosts the immune system to kill cancer cells.

However, immunotherapy is not always effective, and in some cases, this could be due to protective mechanisms driven by genes like TAK1.

💡 This finding suggests that if a patient is receiving immunotherapy and TAK1 is switched off in their cancer cells, the cancer could become more vulnerable to attack by the immune system.

The discovery was published in Cell Reports today.

➡️ Read more:

WEHI - Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research


📸 Pictured: Dr Mario (Tirta) Djajawi and Dr Anne Huber, co-lead authors of the paper.

19/12/2025

🩸 B-cell lymphoma insights published 📝

A review written by our team specialising in lymphoma has been published in Blood Reviews.

This important new paper explores how the gut microbiome (the bacteria that live in our digestive system) may act as an immune “gate-keeper” in B-cell lymphoma.

Evidence suggests that a disrupted gut microbiome may influence the development of B-cell lymphomas, how well patients respond to treatment, and their general immune health during and after therapy.

As the gut microbiome can directly affect disease progression and treatment outcomes, understanding these connections could open new treatment pathways to improve patient outcomes.

💡 This review offers new direction on how the microbiome could be harnessed in novel treatment avenues that improve outcomes for B-cell lymphoma patients.

The publication was the result of a multidisciplinary effort led by Prof Eliza Hawkes, Dr Darcy Vickers, Dr Arina Martynchyk and collaborators at QIMR Berghofer.

➡️ Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.blre.2025.101357

18/12/2025

🤝 The ONJCRI retreat: a time for connection and collaboration

The annual ONJCRI retreat brought together brilliant minds from every team within the institute for two days of learning, sharing, and reflection on the year that has been, and to prepare for an even more successful 2026.

2025 was a huge year for the institute. Some achievements include:
• The launch of our new Impact Strategy 2025–2029
• The opening of our new ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine and mRNA-LNP platform
• 4 new labs joining our ranks
• A record number of ONJCRI-led clinical trials with 13 active in 2025 and 8 in startup
• Dozens of research breakthroughs and published discoveries

🤖 We were delighted to welcome Dr Milica Ng (CSL), Prof Karin Verspoor (RMIT University) and Prof Graeme Jackson (The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health) for a compelling panel focusing on artificial intelligence and its usage in research and science.

This retreat was about strengthening the collaborative spirit that fuels our research and reminds us why we do what we do: improving outcomes for people affected by cancer 💛

17/12/2025

Join us for an incredible event at the institute on World Cancer Day 2026 ⬇️

Register for your free ticket to attend in person (limited spaces) or online.

🔬 SAVE THE DATE! Join us for World Cancer Day 2026

Cancer touches the lives of many Australians, affecting families, friends and communities. This event brings together researchers, clinicians and the community to explore the progress and possibilities ahead.

Join the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS) and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI) for “Tackling Cancer on Multiple Fronts” Panel Discussion and Lab Discovery Tour.

🔬Tackling Cancer on Multiple Fronts
📅 World Cancer Day - 4 Feb 2026 @ 5.00pm - 7.00pm
📍 Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI), 145 Studley Road, Heidelberg. Online attendance for the panel discussion is also available.
🎟️ Register: https://events.humanitix.com/lims-x-onjcri-world-cancer-day

We hope to see you there!

La Trobe University