宅男导航

宅男导航 researcher Dr Kris Thurecht is developing new molecules to potentially improve the performance of cancer therapy by delivering drugs directly to cancers.
Dr Thurecht was awarded a $90,000 宅男导航 Foundation Research Excellence Award at a special ceremony at Customs House on Wednesday, September 22, as part of 宅男导航鈥檚 annual Research Week.
The 宅男导航 Foundation Research Excellence Awards have been running for 12 years and are an initiative of 宅男导航 to recognise outstanding performance and leadership potential in early career researchers. This year鈥檚 awards total $910,000.
Dr Thurecht, a researcher at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, says he believes that a radical and drastic change in the way cancer is detected and treated is required in order to decrease the number of deaths caused by cancer each year.
鈥淲ith 43,000 Australians expected to die of cancer in 2010 and cancer accounting for $3.8 billion in direct health system costs, it is critical that we improve the efficacy of toxic payload delivery to cancer cells to fight this disease,鈥� he said.
鈥淢y aim is to use polymer chemistry to develop biocompatible and targeted-delivery vehicles which will transfer potent therapies to very specific sites in the body.
鈥淥ne of the most promising cancer therapies of the last decade is small interfering RNA (siRNA), which can switch off the genes associated with cancer.
鈥渟iRNA provides an exciting alternative to conventional chemotherapy however, there are currently a number of major hurdles associated with delivery of siRNA.
鈥淏y using hyperbranched polymers as a novel carrier molecule, I hope to overcome issues associated with siRNA stability and solubility in blood, and often poor uptake by cancer cells.
鈥淭he polymers will deliver the siRNA specifically to disease sites following intravenous injection, provide a protected environment for siRNA, and will be non-toxic and readily excreted from the body following delivery of the payload.
鈥淎t the same time, we have designed these polymers to be highly sensitive molecular imaging agents so we can monitor the progress of the delivery vehicle using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).鈥�
Dr Thurecht completed his PhD at 宅男导航 in 2005 and returned to Brisbane at the end of 2008 after a successful stint at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.
His project will also build important links with Associate Professor Nigel McMillan at 宅男导航鈥檚 Diamantina Institute for Cancer and Metabolic Medicine and Professor Peter Parsons and Dr Glen Boyle at the Queensland Institute for Medical Research. Media: Dr Kris Thurecht (ph 3346 3864) or Russell Griggs at the AIBN (ph 3346 3989).