Women's Cancer
Research areas in Women's Cancer
Gynaecological Cancer Research Group
About Us
The overall aim of the Gynaecological Cancer Research Group is to understand why gynaecological cancers develop, how and why they spread throughout the body, and how best to treat them. “Gynaecological cancer” encompasses all cancers of the female reproductive system, though our current research focuses on ovarian and endometrial cancer.
We have a number of current projects including the development of an early detection test for ovarian cancer, and the identification of key targets for anti-metastatic therapies in ovarian and endometrial cancer.
We have a particular interest in the Wnt signalling pathway, an important signalling pathway involved in metastasis. We are particularly interested in investigating the regulation of a number of key proteins involved in this pathway, and understanding their role in the context of ovarian and endometrial cancer spread.
The group is led by A/Prof Caroline Ford, a cancer researcher within the School of Women's and Children's Health and based at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre. After completing her PhD at UNSW on the topic of oncogenic viruses, Dr Ford undertook two international postdoctoral appointments in cancer research. Her first postdoctoral research appointment was at the University of Toronto, Canada and the second appointment was at Lund University, Sweden. She returned to UNSW in late 2009 funded by an NHMRC CJ Martin Fellowship and established her research group.
Dr Ford is also an experienced university lecturer, convening courses on medical research, cancer pathology and personalised medicine, including Australia's first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on Personalised Medicine. She has completed a Graduate Certificate in University Learning & Teaching, and is passionate about science communication and enhancing the health literacy of the wider community. In 2017 she was named as an inaugural ‘Superstar of STEM’ by Science & Technology Australia.
Research Projects
Current and future projects include:
- 3D model of ovarian cancer metastasis
- A search for a “Wnt signature” in gynaecological cancers
- Expression and function of Wnt receptors in endometrial cancer
- The effect of Wnt inhibitors on ROR1 and ROR2 signalling using a novel ascites tumour model
- Early detection of ovarian cancer
- Non invasive diagnosis of endometriosis
How to Help
Ovaries Talk About Them
Support our ground-breaking research today
To contribute to our research you can make a donation via https://alumni.unsw.edu.au/Giving/MED/GCRF
Postdocs
Dongli Liu
Miya John
PhD students
Nicole Yuwono
Bonnita Werner
The Gynaecological Cancer Research Group provides opportunities for Honours students and PhD students.
We also take a select number of Medical School students each year for ILP projects.
As a first point-of-contact please email, A/Prof Caroline Ford.
Molecular Oncology
The Molecular Oncology group is led by Professor Susan Ramus. The aim of the group is to improve ovarian cancer risk prediction and prognosis, by using large international consortia that are adequately powered to have an impact for patients.
Improving risk prediction for ovarian cancer
The aim is to identify women at increased risk of ovarian cancer before they develop the disease, by studying inherited changes in their DNA. We are identifying two types of changes.
1) Common variants
Finding large numbers of changes, each with a very small increased risk.
These changes are identified by performing Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) in large numbers of cases and controls from two international consortia. The Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC) and Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 (CIMBA).
2) Rare variants
Finding changes that are rare in the population but have a moderate increased risk.
These changes are identified by performing whole exome sequencing (WES) and large-scale validation by targeted sequencing in large numbers of cases and controls.
High grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC): We have screened 80 genes in up to 6,000 ovarian cancer cases and 6,000 unaffected controls.
Non HGSOC: We have screened 32 genes in 2,000 ovarian cancer cases and 2,000 unaffected controls.
Improving prognosis for Ovarian Cancer
The aim is to identify markers that can group women with similar changes in their tumours and determine their prognosis. Being able to predict how well a woman may respond to current treatments may identify a group of women who need alternative treatments. These studies are performed through the Ovarian Tumour Tissue Analysis (OTTA) Consortium.
1) Validation of prognostic markers by immunohistochemistry (IHC)
Analysis of individual biomarkers using large scale centralised staining and scoring of tissue microarrays (TMA).
2) Identifying new prognostic markers for HGSOC
Large scale genomic analysis of formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumours using the latest technologies such as NanoString RNA expression, screening for somatic mutations using TamSeq and DNA copy number using shallow whole genome sequencing (sWGS).
Read more about Prof Ramus and her research: World leading ovarian cancer researcher joins UNSW Medicine
Research Team
Staff
Dr Amir Ariff
Bioinformatics – Next generation sequencing data
Nicki Meagher
Project / Database manager – OTTA consortium
Adelyn Bolithon
Research Assistant – NanoString RNA expression
PhD Students
Marina Pavenello “The contribution of rare alleles to non-high grade serous ovarian cancer”
Nicki Meagher “Unravelling mucinous tumours of the ovary and intestinal tract: diagnosis, classification and molecular profiling”
Consumers
Gill Stannard - Cancer Voices NSW and Translational Cancer Research Network
Jacinta Frawley Werger - Cancer Voices NSW
Daria Carynny - Cancer Voices NSW
Jenni Yoon - Cancer Voices NSW
Chris Christensen, Chair of Cancer Voices SA and a consumer in our team for two years, sadly passed away in Oct 2020. She will be greatly missed. She will continue to inspire us to work on projects to improve outcomes for women with ovarian cancer.
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