‘Bubble boy’ SCID disease effectively cured with experimental gene therapy
A rare genetic disorder known as ‘bubble boy’ disease, effectively cured with gene therapy.
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Meet Dr Gerard Chu
Dr Gerard Chu is a PhD Student in Professor John Rasko’s laboratory.
Gerard’s father was diagnosed with cancer when he was in Year 11 at school. His father’s health scare motivated Gerard to want to make a difference to the lives of people dealing with cancer. It is the inspiration behind him studying medicine and joining the research lab where he is today.
In 2018, Gerard received the Cure The Future/Rotary Fellowship. This fellowship has provided Gerard with a living allowance while waiting other scholarship funding. The Fellowship has reduced financial pressure and allowed Gerard to focus on his research rather than having to find other work for financial support.
Completely focused on optimizing the effectiveness of CAR T-cells in treating asbestos related (mesothelioma) and pancreatic cancer, Gerard, now in his second year of a PhD.
Gerard’s research is transformative cell-based therapy, where immune cells are able to be re engineered, replicated and re applied to a patients body to target and reduce cancers.
‘Research is a lot of hard work’
Often hard work in research goes unrecognized. Gerard is grateful for the support of like-minded individuals who value hard work and medical research through the Cure the Future Fellowship.
‘Cure The Future is the scientists helping hand’
Gerard’s research aims to deliver novel cellular therapies and have a positive impact on patients in clinical trials in Australia, patients who would otherwise have to seek alternative more lengthy and painful treatments.
‘I live for making a better world for my children, through my research, I am.’
Gerard’s vision is to harness the immune system to fight several diseases to help cure the future for all children.
Your support can help us continue to support amazing scientists like Gerard.
What is a CAR T Cell?
Cell therapy has come of age and CAR T therapy is leading the way.
“Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are produced by harvesting and reprogramming healthy T cells from a cancer patient. Genetically modified cells are then manufactured in their billions and infused back into the patient. Once in the patient the CAR T cells act to seek, target and destroy cancerous cells. The process is described in the graphic below.
Early clinical data from leading clinical research centres around the world has highlighted the promise of CAR T cells for the targeted treatment of cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma.
Our clinicians and scientists are currently working with international collaborators to develop anti-mesothelin CAR-T cells to initiate Phase I clinical trials to tackle some hard-to-treat cancers.
Led by Professor John Rasko AO, Australia’s leading Cell & Molecular Therapies expert, a team of research specialists will leverage the existing cell manufacturing infrastructure and expertise at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.
In Australia, at RPAH, the initial focus will be on the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer, a first for Australian patients that could revolutionise outcomes for patients and their families living with many types of cancer.
The impact of using CAR T cells in treatment can be life saving for the patient.
You can be part of this historical ground-breaking global project and help Cure the Future – for your family and for families like yours, all over the world.
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Meet Data Scientist Ulf Schmitz
Dr Ulf Schmitz is a serious computer wizard.
Currently Ulf is a Data scientist in Professor John Rasko’s team at the Centenary Institute. As an expert in Bioinformatics metrics, Ulf spends his days discovering patterns in data that help to explain normal biology and human diseases.
‘With the support of Cure The Future, I was able to continue exploring mechanisms of gene regulation in cancer without interruption*. This allowed me to produce important research output leading to numerous publications.’
Dr Ulf Schmitz
Ulf received the Cure the Future Award of Scientific Excellence in 2016 as a post-doctoral researcher. This 12 month fellowship allowed the completion of experiments that capture the life of cancer cells in a detail that has never been achieved before. Data from these experiments allowed Ulf to study patterns of unanticipated forms of cancer gene regulation.
The Cure The Future support has been invaluable to Ulf in laying a foundation for many other grants, awards and career progressions.
‘I’m now able to share my experience and give advice to younger, junior researchers and help them progress in their careers as well.’
Thanks to the solid foundation provided by Cure The Future, Ulf continues to deliver impact to cancer patients in his roles as Conjoint Senior Lecturer of the Sydney Medical School, Associate Faculty of the Centenary Institute and Head of the Computational Biomedicine Laboratory.
’Foundations like Cure the Future are a cornerstone for modern biomedical research. By raising funds for research, they are able to provide rapid financial support, flexibly, and at times when its most urgently needed. This kind of support is crucial for facilitating world-class research right here in Australia.
During his fellowship Ulf published 6 journal articles, one book chapter, and a book about ‘Systems Medicine’ – the first of its kind in the field, all while presenting at National workshops and International conferences in Iran and the Philippines.
Your support can help us continue to support amazing scientists like Ulf.
Professor John Rasko AO Comments on Recent Developments in Gene Editing
Gene editing is a topic of great ethical debate. Here is a recent interview on the topic with Professor John Rasko AO on ABC Breakfast television.