Cancer cells exhibit certain hallmarks that distinguish them from normal cells, including an unrestrained capacity to divide and the ability to spread throughout the body. The overall goal of the Cancer Research Division is to identify and describe the mechanisms that drive the development and progression of human cancers and to exploit this information to develop new biomarkers and therapeutic strategies.

Divisional research is underpinned by extensive tissue banks, collected through local, national and international collaborations, as well as by databases that document relevant clinical and pathological information. The Breast, Prostate and Pancreatic Cancer tissue banks and databases rank among the best in the world.

The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, which houses many of the research labs and groups from the Cancer Research Division, aligns our research with best practice cancer services at St Vincent's Hospital, to facilitate rapid translation to the clinic and to develop innovative approaches in personalised medicine and improve outcomes for cancer patients.

Research Laboratories and Groups

Clinical Cancer Research

(Coordinators – Prof David Thomas and A/Prof Elgene Lim)

Connie Johnson Breast Cancer Research (Lab Head: A/Prof Elgene Lim) 

Genomic Cancer Medicine (Lab Head: Prof David Thomas) 

• Immunobiology of Cancer (Group Leader: Dr Maya Kansara)
• Molecular Screening and Therapeutics Program (Manager: Dr Dominique Hess)
• Genetic Cancer Risk (Group Leader: Dr Mandy Ballinger)

Australian Pancreatic Genome Initiative (Head: Prof Anthony Gill)

• Clinical Prostate Cancer Research (Group Leader: A/Prof Lisa Horvath)
• Hormones and Cancer (Group Leader: Dr Ann McCormack)

Translational Cancer Research

(Coordinators – Dr Alex Swarbrick and Prof Sandra O’Toole)

Tumour Progression (Lab Head: Dr Alex Swarbrick)

• Translational Breast Cancer Research (Group Leader: Prof Sandra O'Toole)

Cancer Biology Research

(Coordinator – Prof Chris Ormandy)

Cancer Biology (Lab Head: Prof Chris Ormandy)

• Cell Survival (Group Leader: Dr Samantha Oakes)
• Replication and Genome Stability (Group Leader: Dr Liz Caldon)
• Tumour Development (Group Leader: Dr David Gallego-Ortega)

Cancer Cell Plasticity (Lab Head: Dr Christine Chaffer)

Cancer Developmental Biology (Lab Head: Prof Neil Watkins)

• Network Biology (Group Leader: Dr David Croucher)

Invasion and Metastasis (Lab Head: A/Prof Paul Timpson)

• Matrix and Metastasis (Group Leader: Dr Thomas Cox)

Personalised Cancer Therapeutics (Lab Head: Dr Marina Pajic)

Computational Genomics (Lab Head: A/Prof Dr Joseph Powell)