Childhood Cancer Program

Luca Hall-Boggia a cancer survivor smiling at Hudson Institute. Picture Courtesy Jason Edwards /Herald Sun

Some childhood cancers have either no treatment available, or what is available hasn’t improved for more than forty years.

These rare, low-survival, difficult-to-treat childhood cancers are among the specialities of Hudson Institute researchers.

Each year almost 1,000 Australian children are diagnosed with childhood cancer and 5,600 are undergoing treatment.

Despite significant improvements in overall survival rates over the past 50 years, cancer remains the leading disease-related cause of death among Australian children. The pharmaceutical industry’s limited focus on developing new treatments for paediatric cancers stems from their comparatively low incidence relative to adult cancers. Some rare childhood cancers have no treatments available. In the last 40 years, 500 adult cancer drugs were approved in the United States, contrasting with only 12 for childhood cancers. The development of more targeted and less toxic treatments for children with cancer is imperative to improve survival rates and reduce long-term treatment-related side effects.

Our Childhood Cancer Research Programs aim to improve survival rates and long-term health outcomes for children with cancer by mitigating the detrimental effects of aggressive treatments on their developing bodies.

Leadership and goals

A world leader in the field of paediatric cancer research, Hudson Institute’s multidisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians have the following primary objectives:

  1. Developing more precise treatments to improve childhood cancer long-term prognosis, survival rates, and long-term health outcomes.
  2. Fostering local, national, and international partnerships to build capacity and sustainability in paediatric cancer research.
  3. Advancing the understanding of cancer biology through cutting-edge research, focusing on the unique genetic and molecular profiles of paediatric cancers.
  4. Translating research into clinical practice by facilitating the implementation of research findings into clinical trials for paediatric cancer patients.
  5. Engaging in advocacy and education to raise awareness about the unique challenges of paediatric cancer and to secure funding and policy support for ongoing research and treatment initiatives.

In Australia, more than 1,000 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer each year.

Cancer kills three children every week in Australia – more than any other disease.

Almost half of all children diagnosed with cancer in Australia are aged 0-4 years old.

The Childhood Cancer Model Atlas (CCMA), housed at Hudson Institute’s Centre for Cancer Research, is the world’s largest collection of over 400 high-risk paediatric cancer cell lines. This unique and open-source repository was established through the collaboration of more than 50 leading cancer research institutes, universities, and academic medical centres worldwide.

The Hudson-Monash Children’s Cancer Biobank (MCCB) was established in 2011 and is operated by the Hudson Institute’s Centre for Cancer Research. Since 2017, the biobank has expanded to include a Living Biobank, a cutting-edge resource that features patient ‘avatar’ models. These models faithfully replicate the patient’s original tumour and include cell lines, organoids, and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs).

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Program leads

Professor Ron Firestein, Centre Head, Centre for Cancer Research, VPCC Lead Next generation precision medicine program

Associate Professor Jason Cain, Research Group Head Sarcoma program

Dr Pouya Faridi, Research Group Head Cancer immunotherapy program

Dr Catherine Carmichael, Research Group Head Childhood myeloid leukemia program

Dr Xin (Claire) Sun, Advanced informatics program

Program operations

Naama Neeman, Head of Program Operations

Laboratory operations

Hui Kheng Chua, Laboratory Manager

Research team

Dr Paul Daniel, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr Vijesh Vaghjiani, Postdoctoral Scientist

Dr Terry Lim, Postdoctoral Scientist

Dr Hanbyeol Lee, Postdoctoral Scientist, Paediatric Brain Cancer

Dr Yichen Zhou, Postdoctoral Scientist, Combinatorial CRISPR Technology

Dr Farnaz Fahimi, Postdoctoral Scientist

Gabriel Goncalves, Postdoctoral Scientist

Shazia Adjumain, Postdoctoral Scientist, Functional Genomics – funded by Robert Connor Dawes Foundation

Dr Danxi Zhu, Postdoctoral Scientist

Dr Ava Faridi, Grant and manuscript writering

Yuxin (Sally) Sun, Cooper Rice-Brading Foundation – Sarcoma Research Specialist

Dr Steve Lin, Research Assistant

Nivedhitha Selvakumar, Research Assistant

Jennie Do, Research Assistant

Samiksha Dhananjay, Research Assistant – volunteer

Jin Luo, Research Assistant – volunteer

Biobanking and cell culture specialists

Rajithri (Dilru) Habarakada, Senior Biobank Specialist

Dr Nicole Chew, Senior Organoid Specialist

Bao Le, Research Assistant, Junior Organoid Specialist

James Cooper, Research Assistant, Patient Model Specialist

Bioinformatics researchers

Isaac Woodhouse, Senior Bioinformatician

Vincent Xue, Bioinformatician

Vikesh Ajith, Bioinformatics Data Engineer

Xinyi Guo, Research Assistant

Ishika Mahajan, Volunteer

Yiwen Guan, Volunteer

Clinical staff

Dr Lakshmi (Priya) Sundaravel, Paediatric Fellow, The Royal Children’s Hospital

Dr Leanne Super, Paediatric Oncologist, The Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Children’s Hospital

Students

Liesl Bramberger, PhD Student

Dr Yuqing Liang, Children’s Cancer Foundation PhD Student

Dr Tima Shamekhi, PhD Student

Erwin Tanuwidjaya, PhD Student

Grace Huang, PhD Student

Dr Nataliya Zhukova, VPCC PhD Student

Dingyin Sun, PhD Student

Dr Elise Young, PhD Student

Barnaby Kelly, PhD Student

Lynda Truong, PhD Student

Nurfarhanah (Farhanah) Syed Sulaiman, VPCC PhD Scholar

Samitha Amarapathy, PhD student, Faculty of IT, Monash University

Lily Fraser, Honours Student

Anqelique (Angie) Bitticaca, Honours Student

Karyn Tjahyadi, Visiting Student

The Childhood Cancer Program is conducted in collaboration with more than 50 leading cancer research institutes, universities, and academic medical centres worldwide.

National

  • Centre for Cancer Biology, SA
  • Flinders University, SA
  • Monash Children’s Hospital, VIC
  • Monash University, VIC
  • Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, VIC
  • Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC
  • QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, QLD
  • Queensland Children’s Tumour Bank, QLD
  • The Alfred, VIC
  • The Kids Research Institute Australia, WA
  • The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, VIC
  • The Royal Melbourne Hospital, VIC
  • The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, NSW
  • The University of Melbourne, VIC
  • The University of Queensland, QLD
  • The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, VIC
  • University of Newcastle, NSW
  • Zero Childhood Cancer, NSW
  • Children’s Medical Research Institute, NSW
  • Hunter Medical Research Centre, NSW
  • St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, VIC

International

  • American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), United States
  • Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Italy
  • Boston Children’s Hospital, United States
  • Chidren’s Hospital of Philadelphia, United States
  • Childhood Cancer Repository, United States
  • Children’s Brain Tumour Network (CBTN), United States
  • Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, United States
  • Children’s Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
  • Children’s National Hospital, United States
  • Chordoma Foundation, United States
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, United States
  • Dayton Children’s, United States
  • Duke University, United States
  • Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, United States
  • German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany
  • Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Germany
  • Johns Hopkins University, United States
  • KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore
  • Leibniz Institute DSMZ, Germany
  • Life Technologies, United States
  • McGill University, Canada
  • Merck, United States
  • NIBIOHN Japanese Collection of Research Bioresources (JCRB) Cell Bank, Japan
  • Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Netherlands
  • Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital, Spain
  • Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), Spain
  • St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, United States
  • Stanford University, United States
  • The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Canada
  • The Institute of Cancer Research, UK
  • University of Calgary, Canada
  • University of California San Francisco, United States
  • University of Cambridge, UK
  • University of Colorado, United States
  • University of Lübeck, Germany
  • University of Michigan, United States
  • VU University Medical Center, Netherlands

The Childhood Cancer Program acknowledges the support of

Funders

  • Australian Communities Foundation
  • Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation
  • Children’s Cancer Foundation
  • Cooper Rice-Brading Foundation
  • Isabella and Marcus Foundation
  • Medical Research Future Fund
  • My Room
  • Robert Connor Dawes Foundation
  • The Kids’ Cancer Project
  • Tour de Cure
  • Victoria State Government
  • Victorian Cancer Agency

Previous funders

  • Cancer Australia
  • Monash Partners Comprehensive Cancer Consortium
  • Run DIPG

Patient and family advisors play a crucial role in shaping our childhood cancer research program by bringing invaluable insights from their personal experiences with childhood cancer.

Our advisors include caregivers of children who are currently undergoing treatment, caregivers of those who have passed away from childhood cancer and survivors of childhood cancer (or their carers). These individuals provide vital recommendations that guide our research efforts, ensuring that the perspectives of patients and families are incorporated into every stage of planning, delivery, and evaluation. They also offer advice on how to effectively communicate our research outcomes to the broader community. This collaborative approach enhances our mission of fostering partnerships, developing precise treatments, and improving both survival rates and long-term health outcomes for childhood cancer patients.

Courtney Baglin

Childhood and AYA Sarcoma program

Immunotherapy program

Monique Boggia

Next generation precision medicine program

Andrea Boon

Leukaemia program

Prof Tracey Danaher

Next generation precision medicine program

Advanced informatics program

Nader Eloshaiker

Leukaemia program

Lucy Francazio

Leukaemia program

Dr Rebecca Goldstein

Next generation precision medicine program

Advanced informatics program

Claire Josefsson

Leukaemia program

Advanced informatics program

Leesa Kerr

Childhood and AYA Sarcoma program

Immunotherapy program

Taylah Miranda

Leukaemia program

Nelly Mohibi

Childhood and AYA Sarcoma program

Immunotherapy program

Virginia Rea

Next generation precision medicine program

Jen Rooney

Next generation precision medicine program

Advanced informatics program

Dr Lori Rubinek

Next generation precision medicine program

Andrea Valvo

Leukaemia program

Tianna Valvo

Leukaemia program

Anitia Watts

Childhood and AYA Sarcoma program

Immunotherapy program

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