RESEARCHER PROFILE
Dr Erin Brazel
University of Adelaide
Filmed February 2024
Dr Erin Brazel has a background in molecular and translational microbiology, with a focus on developing new ways of preventing and treating bacterial diseases. Recently Dr Brazel has been awarded a Junior Fellowship by the Passe & Williams Memorial Foundation.
The fellowship enables outstanding individuals to obtain postdoctoral training under the supervision of an experienced clinical or scientific researcher, with the view to establishing a research career in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery in Australia and/or New Zealand.
The fellowship will support research on bacterial vaccines in a joint GPN Vaccines Ltd and the University of Adelaide project to explore combination vaccines for ear infections using Gamma-PN.
Bacterial ear infections are the most common bacterial disease affecting children. In Australia, episodes range from 1-2.4 million each year, affecting over 600,000 individuals, with 40% of these children experiencing six or more recurrences before the age of eight. Persistent cases can result in hearing loss and learning difficulties, leading to developmental delays and impacts on psychosocial health. Chronic ear infections have also been linked to increased rates of obesity during childhood and Later in life, which may be a result of prolonged antibiotic usage.
With antibiotic resistant superbugs projected to kill 10 million people each year by 2050, new ways of combatting disease are urgently required. A major focus of Dr Brazel’s research is the development of new vaccines to address emerging and existing pathogens that threaten global health and biosecurity. Vaccines are an important tool for reducing disease caused by antimicrobial resistant pathogens, the spread of resistant bacteria, and to reduce antimicrobial use in health and animal care.
Dr Brazel has contributed to the design and preclinical testing of many next generation vaccine candidates, including the current lead candidate (Gamma-PN3). This vaccine is currently being tested in a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial (commenced January 2023).
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Targeting chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer patients
Dr Alex Cole, from the Centenary Institute’s Centre for Biomedical AI, is now leading the research focused on developing a new treatment to counteract a protein called follistatin (FST), known for making ovarian cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy.
By employing cutting-edge molecular biology and directed evolution techniques, the project aims to create nanobodies—small, precise molecules—that can block FST. If successful, these nanobodies could enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy and improve ovarian cancer treatment rates.
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Applying nanotechnology to chronic pain management
Dr Felicity Han is a Research Fellow and Leader in Pain Relief Innovation, at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in the University of Queensland. Dr Han’s research interests sit at the interface of drug delivery and the pain field. Her overarching research goal is to improve the quality of day to day life of patients suffering from chronic pain, by applying nanotechnology to the development of novel highly effective pain-killer products for improving chronic pain management.
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Hormone receptor positive breast cancer and therapy resistance
Prof Elgene Lim is a medical oncologist at St Vincent’s Hospital and Head of the Connie Johnson Breast Cancer Research Lab at the Garvan Institute. Following his PhD at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute where he identified the aberrant cells in carriers of the BRCA1 mutant gene, a hereditary breast cancer syndrome as the culprit cells giving rise to breast cancer, he furthered his research and clinical training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He was awarded the National Breast Cancer Foundation Practitioner Fellowship in 2014 and returned from Boston to Australia. In 2017, he was awarded the inaugural National Breast Cancer Foundation Endowed Chair, and subsequently appointed the Principal Cancer Theme Lead at UNSW.
