Pancreatic Carcinogenesis
Pancreatic Cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in our society. Almost 90% of the patients succumb within a year of diagnosis and new effective therapies are urgently needed.
The Pancreatic Carcinogenesis team is focused on identifying key drivers and biomarkers of pancreatic cancer through studying the earliest changes in the exocrine tissue, with the aim to define novel screening and therapeutic targets.
The Pancreatic Carcinogenesis group sits within the Pancreatic Cancer Group (Prof. Andrew Biankin) which co-leads the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative (APGI), a member of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (www.icgc.org). The APGI aims to fully characterize the genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic aberrations in tumor samples of pancreatic cancer patients using the latest next generation sequencing technologies, providing a unique resource to investigate molecular mechanisms involved in pancreatic carcinogenesis.
The main projects of the Pancreatic Carcinogenesis group revolve around the role of aberrantly expressed genes/mutations identified through APGI, and through previous discoveries. Genetic manipulation in mouse models is used to define the functional consequences and molecular mechanisms by which these genes and their mutations contribute to altered exocrine cell differentiation, proliferation and carcinogenesis. Potential applications also extend to early detection, screening and chemoprevention.
Staff
 Research OfficerDr Andreia Vaqueirinho De Pinho |
 Research AssistantAmanda Mawson |
| Research Assistant Chi Hang (David) Ho |
