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Sarcoma Translational Research

We think all kids with Sarcoma should be able to lead happy, healthy lives! To achieve this, we aim to discover and develop safer and more effective treatments by doing inventive and rigorous research. We focus on addressing high relapse rates using a combination of unique pre-clinical models, patient samples and systems immunology.

Sarcomas are a heterogenous group of cancers of the bone, muscle, or connective tissue.

About 15% of cancers in children and adolescents are sarcomas whereas only 1% of cancers in adults are sarcomas. Although many sarcomas can be cured with standard therapy, the relatively high incidence of the disease in younger people and the frequency of recurrence makes the development of more effective therapies a high priority.

The Sarcoma Group aims to identify new treatments for young people with sarcoma. In particular, we are developing immunotherapy approaches that can be applied during surgery in order to prevent local relapse and metastasis.

Team leader

Program Head, Cancer; Head, Sarcoma Translational Research

Team members (13)

Senior Research Fellow

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr Rachael Zemek
Dr Rachael Zemek

BSc (Hons), PhD

Honorary Research Associate

Juliet Schreurs

Juliet Schreurs

Research Assistant

Breana Vitali

Breana Vitali

Research Assistant

Xueting Ye

Xueting Ye

PhD Student

Neha Jain

Neha Jain

PhD Student

Cenxi Gao

Cenxi Gao

PhD Student

Hala Salih

Hala Salih

Masters Student

Claudia Peh

Claudia Peh

Honours Student

Xinchi Zhang

Xinchi Zhang

Honours Student

Francois Rwandamuriye

Francois Rwandamuriye

Honorary Team Member

Sarcoma Translational Research projects

Featured projects

The interplay between sarcoma and surgery-induced wound healing

Local immunotherapy for sarcoma

Sarcoma Translational Research

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Publications

Reports and Findings

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Transcriptional rewiring in CD8+ T cells: implications for CAR-T cell therapy against solid tumours

T cells engineered to express chimeric-antigen receptors (CAR-T cells) can effectively control relapsed and refractory haematological malignancies in the clinic. However, the successes of CAR-T cell therapy have not been recapitulated in solid tumours due to a range of barriers such as immunosuppression, poor infiltration, and tumour heterogeneity.

Anti-metabolite chemotherapy increases LAG-3 expressing tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes which can be targeted by combination immune checkpoint blockade

Antibodies that target immune checkpoints such as cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4, programmed cell death protein/ligand 1 are approved for treatment of multiple cancer types. 

Use of high-resolution fluorescence in situ hybridization for fast and robust detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNAs

Early, rapid, and accurate diagnostic tests play critical roles not only in the identification/management of individuals infected by SARS-CoV-2, but also in fast and effective public health surveillance, containment, and response. Our aim has been to develop a fast and robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) detection method for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNAs by using an HEK 293 T cell culture model. 

Local therapy with combination TLR agonists stimulates systemic anti-tumor immunity and sensitizes tumors to immune checkpoint blockade

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