Research programs
Like any far-reaching and ambitious medical research initiative, the Garvan-Weizmann partnership relies heavily on support and investment from generous and forward-thinking individuals and organisations.
Vital initial investment from the NSW Government, Mr John Roth and Ms Jillian Segal AM, Mr and Mrs Laurie and Di Sutton and Mr Johnny Kahlbetzer has funded the construction of the Garvan-Weizmann Centre for Cellular Genomics.
Collaborative research projects
We are delighted to introduce two inaugural research projects – all existing collaborations between Garvan and Weizmann researchers – that mark just the beginning of the research program within the Garvan-Weizmann partnership.
Towards personalised medicine for pre-diabetes
Researchers from Garvan and the Weizmann Institute are working together to understand how different types of pre-diabetes can be distinguished in patients — with the aim of improving treatment and stemming the global epidemic of type 2 diabetes.
“Previously, it hasn’t been possible to identify the different forms of pre-diabetes, or to tailor treatments to specific patients — but our study proposes to change that,” says Dr Dorit Samocha-Bonet.
In the first instance, the study will recruit 150 volunteers. Researchers will measure a host of parameters including body fat, liver fat, blood parameters, physical activity, sleep patterns, diet and —importantly — the individual’s genome sequence and the genome sequence of gut microbes, which gives a readout of each individual’s ‘microbiome’.
Towards personalised medicine in melanoma: who will respond to immunotherapy?
he Garvan-Weizmann partnership will play an important role in the melanoma research of Professor Yardena Samuels (Weizmann Institute). Professor Samuels is working to understand how melanomas vary between individuals, with the aim of predicting which cancers will respond to immunotherapy.
Immunotherapies — which ‘turn on’ the immune system and empower it to attack tumours — are currently at the forefront of revolutionary cancer treatment. Immunotherapy based on the body’s T cells (a type of white blood cell involved in the body’s immune system), has achieved remarkable results in some melanoma patients, yet most patients still fail to respond to T cell-mediated immunotherapy, and little is understood about why.
