Associate Professor Liz Caldon
Associate Professor Liz Caldon is a cancer cell biologist dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with treatment-resistant disease. After completing an M.Sc. at the University of Toronto and a PhD at UNSW, Liz was appointed a Lab Head at the Garvan Institute in 2023. Her team addresses the historical under-investigation of women’s cancers by focusing on three high-need areas:
ER+ Breast Cancer: Modelling resistance to hormone therapy and CDK4/6 inhibitors to understand how tumours evolve and become refractory.
Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Identifying molecular vulnerabilities to develop precision alternatives to chemotherapy.
Ovarian Cancer: Uncovering mechanisms of PARP inhibitor resistance to restore therapeutic efficacy in high-grade serous disease.
The Caldon Lab specializes in tumour cell evolution, utilizing single-cell modelling, cell-cycle-based therapies, and drug repurposing to create targeted approaches for advanced disease.
Liz is an Australian Gynaecological Research Foundation Fellow and a former NBCF Mavis Robertson Fellow. She also serves as an Associate Editor for Oncogenesis and Endocrine Oncology.
Medical Minds Podcast
Awards
- 2025Australian Gynaecological Research Foundation Fellowship
- 2021Cancer Institute NSW Fellowship
- 2021Mavis Robertson NBCF Fellowship
- 2018The Ridley Ken Davies Award
- 2017Heliflite Young Explorer Award
- 2017National Breast Cancer Foundation Career Development Fellowship
- 2015CHAMP Private Equity Young Pioneer Award
- 2014Cancer Institute Career Development Fellowship
- 2013“Best Translational Research Presentation” - Lowy Cancer Symposium - UNSW - Sydney - Australia
- 2013Cure Cancer Conference and Professional Development Grant
- 2011Cure Cancer Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 2011National Breast Cancer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 2010Young Garvan Fellowship
- 2005Cancer Institute NSW Scholar
- 2004Beth Yarrow Scholarship
- 2003LH Ainsworth Scholarship in Cancer Research
- 2002Connaught Graduate Fellowship - University of Toronto
Selected publications
See all publications- 2026Nature Communications10.1038/s41467-026-70683-x
Endocrine therapy reprogramming of breast cancer facilitates metastatic escape via upregulation of P-Rex1/Rac1 signalling.
- 2025Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research : CR10.1186/s13046-025-03466-9
JNK pathway suppression mediates insensitivity to combination endocrine therapy and CDK4/6 inhibition in ER+ breast cancer.
- 2023Pharmacological Research10.1016/j.phrs.2023.106927
DNA repair biomarkers to guide usage of combined PARP inhibitors and chemotherapy: A meta-analysis and systematic review.