Alfred Health
The Wei and Guthridge research groups focus on the mechanisms by which cancer cells co-opt and coerce intracellular signalling pathways to promote deregulated cell survival, proliferation and growth.
Through the molecular analysis of intracellular signalling pathways, the laboratories seek to identify new therapeutic targets in leukaemia. In 2015 Associate Professor Wei's group published research in Blood, demonstrating a previously unsuspected and clinically relevant role for INPP4B (inositol polyphosphate 4-phosphatase, type II B) as a mediator of chemoresistance associated with poor survival and outcome in AML. This apparent gain of function in mediating chemoresistance was found to be independent of the enzyme’s phosphoinositide phosphatase function (Rijal S et al., Blood 2015).
Find out more about the Acute Myeloid Leukaemia Research Group
Researchers are a step closer to offering older patients with an aggressive blood cancer, acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a new less-toxic treatment option.
The Alfred and Monash University are set to establish Australia’s first dedicated blood cancer research centre, thanks to a $1.2 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF).