Researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have been awarded six highly competitive Ideas and Development Grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council to tackle complex medical challenges using cutting-edge technologies and new therapeutic approaches.
The grants, announced yesterday by Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler, will support some of Garvan’s most innovative research projects and build on the Institute’s unique strengths in cancer, genomics and immunology.
Dr Marcia Munoz
Breaking new ground in rare inflammatory bowel disease (Ideas Grant)
Dr Marcia Munoz is pioneering research into inflammatory bowel disease associated with mevalonate kinase deficiency (MKD), a rare genetic condition that severely affects young people. Her team has achieved a significant breakthrough by developing the first animal model that accurately reflects the human disease.
“Our model finally allows us to understand why MKD causes gut inflammation – something that’s been impossible until now,” says Dr Munoz. “We can see the same ‘leaky gut’ patterns and tissue changes that occur in patients, giving us a unique window into the disease that could lead to new in-roads for potential treatments.”
The research combines several cutting-edge approaches, including intravital imaging, single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, to understand what causes gut disease and how it progresses. Working with the Imagine Institute in Paris, which holds a unique biobank of MKD patient gut samples, the researchers will validate their findings in human tissue. The team is also investigating a potential oral treatment that could replace a missing lipid in MKD patients to restore normal gut cell function.
Dr Kendelle Murphy and Dr Brooke Pereira
Dual approaches to pancreatic cancer treatment (Ideas Grants)
Two complementary research projects at Garvan are taking aim at one of pancreatic cancer’s most challenging characteristics – the dense, fibrotic tissue that surrounds tumours and acts as a barrier to treatment.
Dr Kendelle Murphy and Dr Brooke Pereira are investigating different therapeutic approaches to tackle this problem. Both projects draw on Garvan’s unique strengths in imaging and access to patient samples through the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative.
Dr Murphy’s team is investigating whether an anti-fibrotic drug called Narmafotinib can improve how well patients respond to FOLFIRINOX – a multi-drug chemotherapy treatment currently used in the clinic. Their work focuses on a protein called FAK that plays a key role in the communication between tumour cells and their surrounding environment.
“By targeting FAK, we hope to break down the barrier that prevents treatments from reaching cancer cells effectively. Our imaging approach lets us track exactly what’s happening at both the original tumour site and in areas where the cancer may have spread,” says Dr Murphy.
Meanwhile, Dr Pereira’s research centres on a protein called thrombospondin-1 that influences tissue scarring and blood vessel formation. Her team is investigating whether blocking this protein could make the common chemotherapy combination gemcitabine/Abraxane more effective.
“Our early research shows that patients with high levels of thrombospondin-1 tend to have poorer outcomes. Using samples from Australian patients and our advanced imaging techniques, we can map exactly how targeting this protein might improve treatment response,” says Dr Pereira.
Dr Drew Neavin
Building a global bipolar disorder resource (Ideas Grant)
Dr Drew Neavin and her team will develop a new resource for understanding bipolar disorder, a mental health condition that affects 45 million people worldwide, including nearly 3% of adult Australians. The team will build the world’s largest collection of stem cells from people with bipolar disorder, which can be transformed into brain cells for detailed study.
Using cutting-edge single-cell analysis techniques to track how different bipolar disorder medications affect cells, Dr Neavin aims to reveal why some treatments work better for certain patients than others.
“Genetics accounts for up to 90% of bipolar disorder risk, but we still don’t fully understand how genetic variations lead to the condition or affect treatment response,” says Dr Neavin. “By creating brain cells from patient stem cells, we can study how genetic differences influence cell behaviour and response to medications. This could help us develop better diagnostic tools and more precise treatment approaches.”
Dr Andre Luiz Martins Reis
Advancing genomic medicine for all Australians (Ideas Grant)
Dr Andre Luiz Martins Reis is developing sophisticated computational methods to harness the power of long-read DNA sequencing, a technology that can reveal complex genetic variations missed by traditional methods. The team will develop new analysis methods that can capture a broader range of genetic variations linked to difficult-to-detect conditions such as facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.
Crucially, the project prioritises the inclusion of genetic information from Indigenous Australians, who have been historically underrepresented in genetic databases.
“Current genetic reference databases don’t capture Australia’s diverse population well, which can make genetic testing less accurate for many Australians,” says Dr Reis. “Our platform will not only improve the detection of complex genetic variations but also ensure these advances benefit all Australians equally. This is particularly important for rare disease diagnosis, where accurate genetic information can be life-changing.”
Professor Daniel Christ
Engineering antibodies for better treatments (Development Grant)
Professor Daniel Christ and his team at Garvan received funding for a project that will help advance the development of monoclonal antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies are a type of immunotherapy which can be used to treat many diseases, including cancer and inflammation. Having transformed diagnosis, treatment and research applications, they are among the most rapidly growing drug classes entering into clinical trials, with more than $100 billion in sales in 2023.
“The aim of this project is to further develop monoclonal antibodies for human therapy, using computational analysis, laboratory evolution and structural studies,” Professor Christ says. “These critical steps are a necessary prelude to any clinical trials in patients.
One key advantage of monoclonal antibodies is they have the potential to bind with high affinity to a wide range of disease targets, which can enhance potency while reducing side effects.
Dr Marcia Munoz is a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at St Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney. Dr Kendelle Murphy is a Conjoint Lecturer at St Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney. Dr Brooke Pereira is a Conjoint Lecturer at St Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney. Dr Drew Neavin is a Conjoint Lecturer at St Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney. Dr Andre Reis is a Conjoint Lecturer at St Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney. Professor Daniel Christ is a Conjoint Professor at St Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney.