In Focus: SAHMRI

In Focus: SAHMRI Learn more about the institutes we support through our In Focus series.

South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) is South Australia’s first independent flagship health and medical research institute.

It is home to more than 600 scientists, working together to tackle the biggest health challenges in society today.
 
SAHMRI’s Cancer Theme is dedicated to finding new and better ways to diagnose and treat cancer. A core focus of the cancer research team are blood cancers – these are a leading cause of childhood death. Led by Professor Timothy Hughes, the Cancer Theme works across the entire research spectrum, from fundamental genomic discovery, to developmental biology, translational research and the development of innovative clinical trials.
 
The goal of SAHMRI is to conduct inspired research, which leads to improved health outcomes for cancer patients and the rest of the community.

Image of SAHMRI: Peter Clarke Photography.


Meet the scientist we've funded at South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute

Dr Susan Heatley
Dr Sue Heatley’s research is focused on understanding the genetic causes of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in both adults and children. Rapid and accurate identification of these alterations at diagnosis will provide the opportunity for these patients to be treated with currently available targeted therapies. This is likely to lead to immediate improvements in response and long-term outcomes in this group of high risk ALL patients. Her The Kids’ Cancer Project fellowship investigated single cell genomics in adolescents with high risk B-ALL to determine the clonal evolution of the disease.

 


Read more: Investigating drug resistance and genetic changes in Ph-like ALL in adolescents.
 
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