Tracker Biobank

Tracker Biobank TRACKER is empowering lung cancer breakthroughs with Australia’s first biobank for advanced lung cancer samples. Join us in this mission!

We provide scientists with high-quality samples and clinical data to advance research and improve patient outcomes.

🎉 South Australia Joins TRACKER! 🎉Big news: The Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) – comprising the Royal Ade...
11/08/2025

🎉 South Australia Joins TRACKER! 🎉

Big news: The Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) – comprising the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) – and the South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI) at The University of Adelaide are now live with TRACKER!

On Friday, August 8th, the team collected their first lung cancer patient sample 🫁 — a huge step in expanding our national biobank and driving critical lung cancer research across Australia.

💡 Meet the South Australian Team
👨‍⚕️ Prof Phan Nguyen – Respiratory Specialist, Head of Unit, Department of Thoracic Medicine & Site PI, RAH
👩‍⚕️ Dr Jelena Solujic – Thoracic Medicine Physician, RAH
🧬 Prof Brendan Jenkins – Head of the Tumour Inflammation and Immunotherapy Program (TIIP) and Site PI, SAiGENCI
🔬 Karen Hon & Sarah Tamang – Research Officers at TIIP, SAiGENCI

🙌 Thank you for your dedication, enthusiasm, and expertise. You’re helping unlock answers, tackle the toughest challenges in lung cancer care, and create hope for patients nationwide.

Learn more: www.trackerbiobank.com

Central Adelaide The University of Adelaide Royal Adelaide Hospital
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✨ Tomorrow’s discoveries start today ✨At TRACKER, we’ve designed our biobank with the future in mind.Our samples are sto...
07/08/2025

✨ Tomorrow’s discoveries start today ✨

At TRACKER, we’ve designed our biobank with the future in mind.
Our samples are stored in multiple formats to ensure they’re ready for next‑generation sequencing and other cutting‑edge technologies.

Why it matters:
🙌 Enables a wide range of research applications
🙌 Ensures samples stay relevant as science advances
🙌 Maximises impact for patients and families

Every sample is a step toward earlier detection, better treatments, and more hope. 💕

📍 Learn more: www.trackerbiobank.com

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✨ We need your voice. ✨TRACKER is calling on people from Asian backgrounds impacted by lung cancer — whether through you...
05/08/2025

✨ We need your voice. ✨

TRACKER is calling on people from Asian backgrounds impacted by lung cancer — whether through your own diagnosis or supporting a loved one — to join our Consumer Team.

💡 Did you know?
Among never‑smoking Asian women, the risk of lung cancer is nearly 2× higher compared to White never‑smoking women.

Your story matters. Your insights can:
✅ Shape our research
✅ Drive earlier detection and better care
✅ Ensure your community’s needs are heard

📍 To find out more or to contact us, please visit: www.trackerbiobank.com

Together, we can change the story of lung cancer. 💛

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🎉 Congratulations to Lisa Briggs, Chair of our TRACKER Consumer Committee, on receiving the prestigious 2025 at Parlia...
04/08/2025

🎉 Congratulations to Lisa Briggs, Chair of our TRACKER Consumer Committee, on receiving the prestigious 2025 at Parliament House!

Lisa’s dedication, passion, and tireless advocacy go above and beyond in supporting TRACKER and lung cancer research. 💛

We’re deeply grateful to Lisa for leading with heart, inspiring change, and amplifying the voices of people affected by lung cancer.

✨ Thank you Cancer Australia for this recognition, and to The Hon Butler MProf Dorothy Keefe, and Jeremy Ferris for such a meaningful celebration.

📍 Together, we’re building community and working towards better lung cancer outcomes for all!

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Thoracic Oncology Group of Australasia Ltd

✨ Let’s Have a Yarn! ✨With new TRACKERbiobank sites coming online soon, we’re reaching out to communities across rural a...
01/08/2025

✨ Let’s Have a Yarn! ✨

With new TRACKERbiobank sites coming online soon, we’re reaching out to communities across rural and remote Australia, South Australia, Western Australia, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to join our TRACKER Consumer Group.

We’re committed to truly listening to your voices:
✅ Your lived experience can help shape our research
✅Your insights can drive real change
✅Your wisdom can be the voice for your community

In the spirit of yarning — a cherished way of sharing stories, listening, and learning together — we invite you to connect, share, and be heard.

🖤 Everyone is equal at a yarn
💛 Elders and young ones share side by side
❤️ Everyone has the right to share their opinions

📍 If you’d like to join or learn more, send us a message or visit our website: https://www.trackerbiobank.com/contact

Please share widely to help enable lung cancer research that benefits all Australians. 🌏

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🌍 World Lung Cancer Day 2025 🌍Today, we shine a light on the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide — lung can...
01/08/2025

🌍 World Lung Cancer Day 2025 🌍

Today, we shine a light on the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide — lung cancer. It affects both non-smokers and smokers, touching the lives of individuals, families, friends, and caregivers across the globe.

At TRACKER, we stand with the lung cancer community in driving research that will enable:
✨ Earlier detection and diagnosis
✨ Safer treatments and effective prevention
✨ More personalised and targeted care
✨ Breaking down stigma and raising awareness

Every story matters. Every voice counts. Together, let’s stand up for lung health and work toward a future where lung cancer no longer takes so many lives.

🫁 On this World Lung Cancer Day, we honour the courage of patients and their loved ones — and reaffirm our commitment to advancing research and improving outcomes.

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🎉 An important milestone for the TRACKER team at Thoracic Oncology Group of Australasia Ltd 2025 ASM! 🎉Our talented PhD ...
31/07/2025

🎉 An important milestone for the TRACKER team at Thoracic Oncology Group of Australasia Ltd 2025 ASM! 🎉

Our talented PhD candidate Dr Senthuran Shivakumar presented his first conference talk 🎤 — sharing early insights about how the lung microbiome may influence the risk of checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (CIP) - a serious side effect of immunotherapy - in lung cancer patients.

💡 Why it matters:
- Up to 10–15% of patients treated with immunotherapy develop CIP
- It can be life-threatening if not caught early

Dr Senthuran’s research aims to find biomarkers that predict risk — so that doctors can detect and treat it earlier, which will significantly improve patient outcomes.

Congratulations Dr Senthuran - it was a fantastic talk and we can't wait to see what you discover next 🙌

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The University of Melbourne Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute Austin Health

We’re celebrating a double milestone 🥳A huge congratulations to PhD candidate Dr Sarah Yeo on her first first-author pub...
28/07/2025

We’re celebrating a double milestone 🥳

A huge congratulations to PhD candidate Dr Sarah Yeo on her first first-author publication, and to the TRACKER team on our very first peer-reviewed publication — now live in the The Medical Journal of Australia! 🙌

🫁 Titled “Lung cancer biobanking in Australia: challenges and future directions,” the article explores the vital role of biobanks in accelerating research into lung cancer — Australia’s deadliest cancer — and improving outcomes through discovery of better diagnostics and treatments.

Biobanks like TRACKER collect high-quality specimens and clinical data to help answer the biggest questions in lung cancer research — from why some treatments fail, to how we can detect disease earlier.

This publication marks an exciting step forward — and it’s only the beginning!

🔗 Read the full article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.5694/mja2.70012

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Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute Austin Health The University of Melbourne Lung Foundation Australia Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing

📊 Every Data Point Builds a StoryBehind each TRACKER participant is a detailed picture of their journey — not just blood...
24/07/2025

📊 Every Data Point Builds a Story

Behind each TRACKER participant is a detailed picture of their journey — not just blood and tissue samples, but rich matched clinical data that fuels life-saving research.

From demographics, comorbidities, pathology and molecular profiles to treatment response and radiology — we’re connecting the dots to answer big questions in lung cancer.

🧬 Why do some patients respond to treatment while others don’t?
🤔Why do some patients experience severe side effects to treatment?
🔍 How can we personalise treatment earlier?

This isn’t just data — it’s the key to breakthroughs that will improve the lives of those affected by lung cancer.

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🏥 Each patient = multiple insights 💡Through blood, tissue, and BALF (lung fluid) samples collected over time, TRACKER of...
22/07/2025

🏥 Each patient = multiple insights 💡

Through blood, tissue, and BALF (lung fluid) samples collected over time, TRACKER offers a unique lens into how lung cancer evolves — from diagnosis to treatment, and beyond.

🔁 Longitudinal sampling
🔬 Multiple sample types (tissue, blood, and BALF)
📈 Deeper discoveries

Every patient journey reveals critical insights — and together, they’re shaping the future of lung cancer research and care.

👉 Researchers: TRACKER is open access. Leverage this rich biobank to unlock your next breakthrough.

Learn more: www.trackerbiobank.com
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🚨 Did you know TRACKER is open access?Are you researching lung cancer?Need high-quality, longitudinal biospecimens and c...
21/07/2025

🚨 Did you know TRACKER is open access?

Are you researching lung cancer?
Need high-quality, longitudinal biospecimens and clinical data?

We’ve got you!

TRACKER is Australia's first national, consumer-partnered lung cancer biobank — purpose-built to drive translational impact.

We provide access to multi-omics ready:
🧪 Tissue, blood & BALF samples
📆 Collected across treatment timepoints
📋 Rich, linked clinical data

We believe in the power of sharing resources and expertise to make research more efficient and impactful - and we welcome EOIs from researchers across academia and industry.

👉 Submit your EOI today:
trackerbiobank.com/request-access

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🫁 How a CT Scan Could Save Your LifeLung cancer is the deadliest cancer in Australia – but early detection changes every...
05/07/2025

🫁 How a CT Scan Could Save Your Life

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in Australia – but early detection changes everything. That’s where a low-dose CT scan comes in.

🔍 What is it?
A low-dose CT (LDCT) scan is a painless, fast X-ray that takes detailed images of your lungs – and it can detect small cancers before you have symptoms.

🎯 Why does it matter?
Most lung cancers are diagnosed too late. But with an LDCT scan, we can catch it early, when treatment is more effective — sometimes even curative.

🚨 The good news?
Australia’s new National Lung Cancer Screening Program is now live!
If you're:
✔️ Aged 50–70
✔️ A current or former smoker (have quit within 10 years)
✔️ Have a history of smoking of at least 30 pack years (e.g. a pack a day for 30 years, or 2 packs a day for 15 years)

… You may be eligible for a FREE scan.

👩‍⚕️ Ask your GP today about a lung health check and referral — it could save your life or the life of someone you love.

✨ Lung cancer caught early = more lives saved. 🫁

Let’s raise awareness and make lung health a priority.
Learn more about our lung cancer research and the TRACKER biobank: www.trackerbiobank.com
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