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Monday 8am - 4:30pm Tuesday 8am - 4:30pm Wednesday 8am - 4:30pm Thursday 8am - 4:30pm Friday 8am - 4:30pm

Gillies McIndoe Research Institute

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Gillies McIndoe Research Institute

A small biomedical research charity creating accessible treatments by repurposing medications to ease suffering from devastating conditions.

In our work, we test medications using spheroids and organoids. Your generous support makes this happen. The Gillies McIndoe Research Institute (GMRI) is seeking to achieve a paradigm shift in the way numerous diseases, including cancer, are treated. Our goal is to develop low cost and widely available treatments without the need for invasive and expensive surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Our research has already underpinned paradigm shifts in the treatments for deformational ear anomalies and strawberry birthmarks. These successes have won widespread recognition and are now used internationally. Now, we are applying our knowledge, understanding and innovation to address cancer, fibrotic conditions, vascular birthmarks and regenerative medicine.

17/09/2025

🦋✨ Community, Research, and Generosity in Action

We were honoured to have some of our researchers from the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute, together with our Ambassador Nick White, share their work with the Upper Hutt Rotary Club this week.

It was a fantastic opportunity to talk about the science driving our mission, the impact of our research, and the difference community partnerships make.

A heartfelt thank you to Upper Hutt Rotary for their generous $3,500 donation. Your support directly fuels our research and helps us move closer to breakthroughs that can change lives.

Together, we’re proving that when science and community come together, the possibilities are endless. 💙

05/09/2025

What makes PhD student Freya Weth’s research approach to drug repurposing new and different?

Past repurposing efforts tend to look at single drugs or drug pairs, often chosen based on broad assumptions rather than direct in vitro (in lab)/ in vivo (in living organism) evidence. Unfortunately, there isn’t any systematic framework to evaluate and optimise multi-drug combinations in vitro/in vivo, which is where my work comes in.

In Freya’s research, she’s using a combination of synergy testing - analysing how drugs may work best together, and proteomics—a way of analysing all the proteins in a tumour—to investigate how to build successful drug combinations in vitro for glioblastoma. Instead of randomly testing drugs, she looks for repurposed drugs that could rationally target potential vulnerabilities. And, just as importantly, she focuses on drug combinations, because no single drug is likely to be effective on its own.

Read more about her research: Unlocking hidden potential: advancements, approaches, and obstacles in repurposing drugs for cancer therapy | British Journal of Cancer

31/08/2025

Gillies, ambassador and all-round action man, is on a mission!
Nick White’s recent outing saw Nick running to the memorial cross at the summit of Mt. Hector in the Tararuas (1529m).

Nick said, “I'm very fortunate to be still enjoying mountain running & adventures. For me, trips like these are about making the most of life, getting out in nature, and being thankful for all the hard work and support from people who helped me on my journey. Plus, to stay in shape for some future adventures I have in mind, to raise more awareness and support for the work of our team at the GMRI!”

Nick and the team at Gillies are planning some epic adventures this summer to raise awareness. Look out for details.

Awesome work Nick!! We could not do what we do without you and all of our fantastic ambassadors, supporters and donors.

26/08/2025

A valued person in our community sent us this last week - reminding us that there’s often more to the story than what meets the eye so we thought we would share as this will reasonate with many.
What was above and below the surface in your iceberg? Send us your thoughts from your own experience - we are always learning from the different perspectives of our own community.

25/08/2025

****We are currently looking for potential PhD students****

If you are looking for a rewarding, exciting career in research, we'd love to hear from you!!

www.gmri.org.nz
ea@gmri.org.nz

21/08/2025

Experiments in the lab don’t always work as expected.

Here is our third-year PhD student Clara Lopez loading a 384-well plate for her qPCR experiments. This is a technique used to quantify the amount of RNA present in a sample, by converting RNA into cDNA and then quantifying the cDNA by amplification. This technique requires a lot of precision and methodology, as well as cleanliness. That is why Clara is using her lab gown, gloves and face mask to prevent her samples from getting contaminated.

Even though we all wish that experiments had worked out on the first try…the truth is that many times they don’t. Clara has been working on her PCR for a few weeks now, trying to get good results.

In science, it is very important to be patient and persevere. Always keep trying, even when you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. The most important thing about the process is LEARNING. And here is Clara, learning how to be a researcher.

Video of Clara loading a plate at University of Otago Wellington.

15/08/2025

Surgical Nurses provide more than exceptional patient care, they enable scientific discovery.

When they take those precious minutes to collect tissue samples, they are initiating the process for breakthroughs that transform our research into real-world treatments for brain cancer and tumours, vascular birthmarks, and keloid scars.

Our PhD student Clara Lopez Vasquez presented her meningioma research project to the Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora Hutt Hospital Surgical Nurse team. She shared how their tissue collection directly advances her meningioma research and enables robust research through:

Ability to isolate single cells from patient-derived tissues, and forming spheroids (clusters of cells grown in the lab)

Ability to uncover the underlying biology of meningioma tumours

Ability to uncover key molecular pathways in meningioma tumour growth and invasion

Ability to test for hormonal influences on meningioma growth and invasion

The dedication of the Surgical Nurses creates a bridge between clinical care and scientific discovery. We are grateful to them for being partners in research discovery and pleased to have been able to give back to them with Continuing Education Credits through the presentation.

04/08/2025

PhD students, Imogen Skelton and Raka Mitra will present their work to vascular anomalies clinicians and researchers from all over Australia and New Zealand at the Australasian Vascular Anomalies Network Conference (AVAN) 2025 conference at Children's Health Queensland, Brisbane from the 5th-6th September.

Imogen will be presenting her work using Immunohistochemistry to study the presence of immune cells in different regions of Infantile Haemangioma tumours to further understand the influence of the immune system on tumour progression. This will be her first time presenting at a conference!

The first image is of Haemangioma blood vessels where Imogen used Immunohistochemistry to determine the influence of immune cells on vessel growth. Blue: cell nuclei, Green: CD31 (endothelial cell marker), Red: VEGFR2 (blood vessel growth marker), Purple: CD45 (immune cell marker).

Raka will be presenting her research on the development of her novel three-dimensional model of IH (second image) to study angiogenesis and the vascular microenvironment. Using patient-derived IH cells, she has grown tiny microtumours (called spheroids) (shoutout to STEMCELL Technologies for their growth media) which upon embedding in a gel-like matrix, shows sprouting or formation of blood vessels (imaging using Incucyte SX1 Live-Cell Analysis system from Sartorius). The exciting part is this model can not only be used to investigate development of blood vessels but also test drugs or inhibitors to stop IH growth. There is also the future potential for the application of similar model systems in other vascular anomalies.

Read more about her research in her latest publication in the British Journal of Dermatology (Oxford Academic (Oxford University Press), novel three-dimensional model of infantile haemangioma

Come say hello if you see them, they will love to chat more about their research!

27/07/2025

Recognizing World Head and Neck Cancer Day (27th of July), we share Carolyn’s (Caro's) journey.

After losing her husband Brian to melanoma in 2006, Caro never imagined she'd face cancer herself. When squamous cell carcinoma struck in 2023, she found herself under Dr Swee Tan's expert care undergoing multiple surgeries to her mandible and bilateral neck dissection, followed by radiation therapy and now rehabilitation at Hutt Hospital. From Marton, Caro now supports research that could spare others this journey.

"The challenging journey I've experienced is precisely why the research at Gillies McIndoe is so vital. As I have no children, I have also pledged to remember Gillies McIndoe Foundation in my Will with a bequest and leave them a percentage of my estate, to help them continue their great work in the future.

Also, as a coincidence, the Institute is named in part as a homage to Sir Harold Delf Gillies, the renowned plastic surgeon considered the pioneer of modern reconstructive plastic surgery, and a cousin of my great-grandmother Agnes Casbourne Douglas (nee Gillies), who was born in 1878 in Dunedin, which is where Sir Harold and his family came from.”

We're incredibly grateful for her courage as our Ambassador and Guardian.

27/07/2025

On World Head and Neck Cancer Day (27th of July), we honour survivors like Nick. Nick is an inspirational human, motivational speaker, and cancer survivor. He lost half his tongue from head and neck cancer in 2009, a type of cancer with a 50% chance of surviving more than five years.

He's had surgery, radiation, and chemo. He considers himself fortunate to have been under the care of Dr. Swee Tan, a head and neck cancer specialist and Founder and Board Chair of the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute. He was offered surgery immediately and is happy he didn't have much time to dwell on it.

Muscle was taken from his upper arm and used to replace the neck glands and a significant portion of his tongue. He lost his ability to speak and had to be trained on how to do that again, with speech language and voice therapy.

Five years after his treatment, in 2014, Nick entered the Mt. Fuji Summit Race in Japan, one of the world's most challenging mountain races, to thank the team that saved his life and to support the work of the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute.

In 2021, he was diagnosed with a second recurrence of head and neck cancer, requiring further life-saving surgery to remove part of his jaw, and replace part of his palate with a muscle from his other arm - which left him with further difficulty speaking and unable to swallow food.

Despite these difficulties he continues to be a mountain runner, training on solely liquid nutrition to successfully complete challenges such as the ‘Ring of Fire’ – a 73-kilometre ultra marathon around Mt Ruapehu. Nick continues to speak publicly at events to raise awareness and funding support for the work of the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute, in the search for better ways to treat cancer.

We're so grateful to have this incredible human as our Ambassador.

18/07/2025

Our PhD students Imogen and Freya previously presented at the Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Future Pathways Careers Event, both sharing their journey to becoming a scientist.

Why did Imogen accept this opportunity at her Alma Marter?
“Figuring out what to do after you leave school is a huge challenge so I wanted to provide some insights into the pathway I took to a career I love! I clarified some of the details about how I got from being a school student to doing a PhD in biomedical sciences.”

Why did Freya accept this opportunity?
“I wanted to speak at the Future Pathways event to share the message I wish I’d heard in high school: You don’t need to have it all figured out. Life isn’t a straight line to a destination - it’s a journey you build as you go. My goal was to help students feel a little less pressure, and to show how curiosity, self-trust, and asking questions can guide you toward a meaningful career, even if the path isn’t perfect or predictable.”

What made this meaningful to them?
Freya said, “What I loved most was hearing students' thoughtful questions and connecting over the shared feeling of not knowing what’s next, but being excited to figure it out.”
Imogen said,’ I enjoyed seeing how many students were interested in science!”

Sometimes the most valuable career advice isn't about having all the answers, it’s about embracing the journey of the unknown.

15/07/2025

Today, on World Glioblastoma Day we’re shining a light on one of the most complex, aggressive, and treatment-resistant cancers: Glioblastoma.

🧠 Glioblastoma doesn’t only attack the body, as it is a cancer of the brain, it can also affect our thoughts, our emotions, our identity - the very essence of who we are. A diagnosis can feel overwhelming, uncertain, deeply frightening, and for many, life changing.

🔬 Labs across Aotearoa, are working on understanding glioblastoma and explore new ways to treat it. Among them are two of our own PhD students, early-career researchers driven by science, compassion, persistence, and a belief in better outcomes.

Freya Weth is investigating how combinations of existing drugs can be repurposed to treat glioblastoma more effectively, potentially leading to more effective and affordable treatment options.

Jasmine (Jaz) White is investigating how different glioblastoma patient samples respond to treatment with radiation and chemotherapy and whether the addition of repurposed drugs can prevent treatment resistance to better patient prognoses.

Additionally, our Founder, Chair of the Board and Trustee on the Foundation, Dr Swee Tan is currently recruiting patients for a Phase II clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness of a combination of repurposed drugs for glioblastoma.

🩵 It’s not just researchers. Organisations such as Brain Tumour Support NZ help people affected by a brain tumour, to feel less afraid, less alone and more empowered.

🙏 Perhaps most powerfully, hope also lives in the patients and families who choose to donate tissue for research. Some of those donors may no longer be with us, but their impact is.

This generosity allows researchers to keep asking questions, to keep learning, to keep trying. Tissue donation isn’t just a gift to science; it’s a gift to the future. It’s a choice that may one day change the outcome for someone else, and that is no small feat.

To the patients and families who choose to donate tissue: thank you.

You remind us that even in the hardest places, hope can still take root.

Address

7 Hospital Road
Wellington
6021

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	8am - 4:30pm
Thursday	8am - 4:30pm
Friday	8am - 4:30pm

Website

https://www.gmri.org.nz/, https://linktr.ee/gilliesmcindoe

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