Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute

08/10/2025

05/10/2025

Our fantastic partners at Bendigo Woollen Mills raising awareness of breast cancer for Breast Cancer Awareness Month 💛

01/10/2025

Join us for an evening of discovery, curiosity and collaboration featuring captivating artworks created by our talented staff and students in our state-of-the-art cancer laboratories.

📆 Friday 24th October, 6:00pm–8:30pm at ONJCRI
🎟️ Limited free tickets and VIP Experience Lab Tour Upgrade tickets available
➡️ Join us: https://science-meets-art-2025.raiselysite.com/

Science Meets Art 2025 will also mark the official launch of our Patient Advocacy Network, which will be integral to our patient-centric research. We look forward to celebrating this important milestone with our community.

This event is generously supported by the North East Community Fund.

26/09/2025

On her birthday, we remember Dame Olivia Newton-John AC DBE's passion for not only more effective, but also more tolerable cancer treatments. Tolerability is one of the key focus areas of the research undertaken at ONJCRI.

Our objective is to create a future where cancer treatments work effectively without compromising quality of life, something that too many patients have had to endure for too long. We aim to give patients more time with their families and loved ones, and more time that they can enjoy to the fullest.

Our scientists, clinicians, patient advocates and research support team work together tirelessly to develop cancer treatments and diagnostics that are more effective, tolerable, and accessible for all people affected by cancer.

Learn more about our research objectives: https://www.onjcri.org.au/impact-strategy/

25/09/2025

💊 Nanomedicine breakthrough published 🔬

ONJCRI researchers and collaborators have developed a novel nanomedicine delivery system with highly ordered structures that enhance cargo delivery to their targets.

The research was co-led by Dr Yi (David) Ju and Prof Frank Caruso from the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with colleagues at RMIT.

Dr Shiyao Li, ONJCRI Postdoctoral Researcher and first author of the Advanced Materials paper, shares:

“We discovered a simple way to build highly ordered structures inside tiny particles at the nanoscale.”

“Our new lipid nanoparticles are more like honeycombs, with tightly packed and ordered compartments. Just like a honeycomb stores honey efficiently, our particles can pack and deliver medicines much more effectively.”

The team tested different types of cargoes inside their nanoparticles, including lipidic molecules, small-molecule drugs, proteins, sugars, and genetic information.

These new tiny delivery systems could lead to new opportunities for nanotechnology-based therapeutics.

Dr Li shared: “We found that the distinct cubic structures improve their overall effectiveness.”

This groundbreaking research provides the first proof-of-concept that these internal structures enhance cargo loading and delivery.

Congratulations to the entire team that was involved in designing these innovative nanoparticles!

➡️ Read the research paper: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202505830

Learn more about our RNA-Lipid Nanoparticle Platform: https://www.onjcri.org.au/research-platforms/rna-lnp-platform/
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The University of Melbourne RMIT University


The research was supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

25/09/2025

🩸 Blood Cancer Awareness Month 🎗️

At ONJCRI, our research follows a bedside-to-bench-to-bedside model. This means that Clinician-Scientists are part of our team, informing the research at the laboratory bench to ensure it leads to real-world impact.

To mark Blood Cancer Awareness Month, we share the inspiring story of one of our passionate Clinician-Scientists, Dr Andrew Guirguis, who bridges the gap between caring for patients living with blood cancer and groundbreaking research.

“Every week, I care for people with rare blood cancers who still have very limited treatment options. This reality drives me to pursue research so we can discover better therapies”.

Today, as the head of ONJCRI’s Blood Cancer Drivers & Therapeutics Lab, Dr Guirguis is turning that inspiration into action.

His lab studies how early bone marrow disorders can transform into aggressive blood cancers like acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

"Our goal is to find the earliest warning signs of this progression and uncover new ways to stop it, giving patients better treatment options and hope for the future," he explains.

By understanding the genetic changes that drive blood cancers, Dr Guirguis and his team are paving the way for more precise therapies with fewer side effects.

Dr Guirguis’ message to anyone touched by blood cancer:

"We see you, and we carry your stories with us in the lab every day. Our mission is to turn discoveries into real hope for you and your loved ones. Your resilience inspires everything we do."

It is a privilege to share Dr Guirguis’ story and the stories of all those working tirelessly to bring hope to people living with blood cancer.

Learn more about our blood cancer research: https://ow.ly/3Ij450X1hp5
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24/09/2025

🌍 World Cancer Research Day 🔬

Today, we celebrate World Cancer Research Day, a recognition of the vital role of research in improving cancer outcomes and reducing the global cancer burden. We take this opportunity to highlight the value of our international collaborations.

With collaborators across 14 different countries, our relationships with experts and institutions from across the globe are of high importance to our team.

Our international collaborators benefit from ONJCRI’s translational research model, where every research project begins with a real-world patient need, before returning to the clinic to improve outcomes. From bedside, to bench, to bedside.

Prof Matthias Ernst, Head of the Cancer and Inflammation Laboratory at ONJCRI, shares how international collaborations help his team achieve breakthroughs.

“Working with international collaborators provides opportunities to ask questions that would benefit from international perspectives or expertise beyond domestic collaborators.

Our collaborators support our team by contributing expertise and conducting specialised experiments in advanced facilities.

They also offer guidance on planning our experiments, interpreting results, and presenting our findings to maximise their impact.”

These global partnerships also provide great development experiences to the next generation of researchers by creating opportunities for the exchange of students between labs.

On this important day, we honour the dedication of our researchers and the global partnerships that help turn ideas into impactful discoveries, bringing us closer to a future where cancer treatment is more effective, tolerable and accessible.

➡️ Learn more about our research: https://www.onjcri.org.au/our-research/

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World Cancer Research Day

19/09/2025

🛫 Travel bursary awarded to PhD student 👏

Congratulations to Birhanu Jemere, who was awarded an Australia and New Zealand Society of Immunology (ASI) travel bursary to attend the organisation’s 53rd Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in December.

Birhanu, who is a second-year PhD student in the Biomarker and Tuft Cell Laboratory, will present his work at the event:

🦠 “I will present my recent work on novel therapies involving viruses (bacteriophages) that target bacteria associated with tumour growth, progression and therapy failure, which aim to alleviate the burden of cancer.”

Birhanu is looking forward to the ASM as a professional development milestone:

“This will be a unique opportunity to showcase my research, connect with the scientific community and hear about cutting-edge research in advanced immunology.

“I'm looking forward to discussing my work, gaining diverse perspectives to refine our work and building collaboration with researchers across Australia and beyond.”

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Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology - ASI

18/09/2025

🩺 Advanced kidney cancer clinical trial🔬

The PIRC clinical trial, sponsored by ONJCRI, is investigating new imaging techniques for people with advanced kidney cancer.

Advanced kidney cancer, which has spread or metastasised outside of the kidney, has a prognosis of 3–6 years with modern treatments.

🎯 The PIRC clinical trial team hope that more powerful imaging techniques could help clinicians pinpoint the exact locations of new tumours to enhance treatment outcomes.

💊 Participants of this study are living with advanced kidney cancer and are taking targeted treatments called Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs).

🩻 They will undergo PET scans with a specific tracer (68Ga-PSMA), which is commonly used in imaging for prostate cancer, to assess the effectiveness of the treatment.

The results will be compared to traditional CT scans, which are currently used to detect sites of cancer spread.

Lead trial investigator and ONJCRI Clinician-Scientist, A/Prof Andrew Weickhardt, explains:

“New imaging techniques may offer an earlier and more accurate assessment of the extent of the spread of the kidney cancer, and also the ability to predict response to treatment.”

“We hope to complete the trial in the next three months, and assess the accuracy and usefulness of these PET scans.”

ONJCRI Clinician-Scientist and trial sub-investigator Prof Andrew Scott is supporting with scoring the PET scans.

This study is being conducted out of the Austin Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and funded by ANZUP (Australia and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer trials group).

Learn more about the PIRC clinical trial: https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=381100

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ANZUP

17/09/2025

Lymph nodes are often removed during cancer surgery to prevent tumour spread, but new research shows why preserving lymph nodes could improve patient outcomes and make immunotherapies more effective.

This research has found that lymph nodes provide the right environment for stem-like T cells to thrive and produce killer cells that fight cancer.

Find out more 🔗 https://www.doherty.edu.au/news-events/news/lymph-nodes-key-to-successful-cancer-immunotherapy

Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences at UniMelb
The Royal Melbourne Hospital
Universitätsklinikum Bonn
Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen - DZNE
WEHI - Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
ETH Zürich
HUMANITAS Research Hospital
Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute
The University of Queensland

15/09/2025

🧑‍🔬 Emerging research leaders symposium 2025 👩‍🔬

ONJCRI Postdoctoral Researchers made their mark at the Melbourne Emerging Leaders in Biomedical Research Symposium (MELBR) last week.

Representing the breadth of research conducted at ONJCRI, our speakers shared progress on cutting-edge work across multiple fields:

🔬 Dr Pavitha Parathan presented her research on the gut’s nervous system
🔬 Dr Michael Murrey presented his work on macrophages
🔬 Dr Kellie Mouchemore presented her research about treatment-resistant triple-negative breast cancer
🔬 Dr Jean Berthelet presented his work on metastatic brain cancer which has spread to the brain

And we couldn't be prouder, as Dr Parathan and Dr Berthelet received a prize for Best Talk each!

Laboratory Head Dr Quentin Gouil also brought his expertise to the Career Panel and as a keynote speaker. He offered candid insights about the challenges around establishing your own lab, maintaining work life balance and effective leadership.

With other talks spanning subjects including obesity, heart disease and viral infections, it was an inspiring day of cross-disciplinary learning and collaboration.

We were honoured to be part of this year's list of sponsors alongside QIAGEN, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, WEHI - Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, and look forward to next year's event.
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12/09/2025

⭐ Discovering new biomarkers to accelerate gastric cancer diagnosis ⭐

Meet Dr Ryan O'Keefe, an early-career researcher whose groundbreaking work could revolutionise how we catch cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages. He is investigating rare immune cells that act as the body's first line of defence against tumour development.

"Knowing that I'm contributing to solving something that causes so much pain around the world is what drives me,” says Dr O’Keefe. “Every day I go to work, I know my research has the potential to make a real difference."

Through innovative cellular research, Dr O'Keefe is uncovering how the immune system can serve as an early warning system for gastric cancer, focusing on previously overlooked cell populations that could inform clinicians of cancer sooner.

Key areas of investigation include:

🛡️ Understanding how tuft cells and immune cells (ILC2s) act as sentinels during cancer's earliest moments
⚡ Harnessing these immune cells as biomarkers for ultra-early detection
🎯 Developing interventions that could prevent tumours from establishing themselves

His most significant finding to date: demonstrating that tuft cells and ILC2s are critical players in the initial stages of gastric cancer. This discovery suggests we could intercept cancer development far earlier than ever thought possible.

Looking ahead, Dr O’Keefe is preparing to work with human samples, and this crucial step will bridge his laboratory discoveries with real-world applications.

"I've lost several family members to cancers that might have been treatable, if only they'd been detected earlier. That personal loss drives my passion to find better ways to catch cancer before it's too late."

💡 Learn how you can support promising early-career researchers like Dr O’Keefe: https://ow.ly/BjWl50WVymR
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