A University of Queensland scientist will help steer a national initiative striving to double brain cancer survival rates over the next decade.
UQ Institute for Molecular Bioscience Director Professor Brandon Wainwright has been appointed to a Strategic Advisory Group supporting the $100 million Australian Brain Cancer Mission.
The Mission is a partnership between the Australian Government, medical experts, researchers, philanthropists, and patients and their families.
Professor Wainwright is a geneticist who discovered the first brain cancer-causing gene and a pathway involved in most human cancers.
“The terrible impact of brain cancer on young people has made it the primary focus of my current research, so I am thrilled to be involved in the advisory group for this game-changing initiative,” he said.
“Brain cancer kills more Australian children than any other disease, and more people under 40 than any other cancer.
“Survival rates haven’t improved significantly over the past 30 years, and this collective effort promises to deliver new hope.”
The Mission will invest in clinical trials and discovery research while furthering international collaborations, expanding research platforms and technologies, and fostering research talent.
The initiative is funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and the Minderoo Foundation’s Eliminate Cancer Initiative.
Media: IMB Communications, Kim Lyell, k.lyell@uq.edu.au, 0427 530 647.
