MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE TO MENIN INHIBITOR THERAPY AND ACUTE MYELOID LEUKAEMIA
With
Dr Rithin Nedumannil,
Consultant Haematologist and PhD Candidate,
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre,
Austin Health,
Eastern Health,
Royal Melbourne Hospital
Melbourne, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Melbourne, Australia | June 2025
Dr Rithin Nedumannil (MBBS, MPH, FRACP, FRCPA) is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, undertaking his doctoral studies in collaboration with the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (Cambridge, UK) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Melbourne, Australia). He is a clinical haematologist and haematopathologist with current appointments at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Austin Health and Northern Health.
After completing his medical degree at the University of Adelaide, Dr Nedumannil undertook advanced training in clinical and laboratory haematology across Melbourne’s major tertiary centres. He was awarded dual fellowships (FRACP and FRCPA) and went on to complete a subspecialty fellowship in Acute Leukaemia and Myelodysplastic Syndromes at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 2024. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of New South Wales.
His interest in translational leukaemia research has been shaped by extensive clinical experience and academic work focusing on measurable residual disease, novel fusion genes and treatment resistance in acute leukaemias. His PhD will explore resistance mechanisms to menin inhibitors in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) using genome-scale technologies including CRISPR screening, RNA sequencing and epigenomic profiling. His research will be conducted over two years at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and one year at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
For this work, Dr Nedumannil has been awarded the 2025 Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand and Leukaemia Foundation New Investigator PhD Scholarship, supporting his goal of translating molecular insights into improved therapeutic strategies for high-risk AML.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0883-3942
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Vaccine effectiveness against infections triggering autoimmune disease
Dr Deborah Burnett is a Scientia Senior Lecturer and Laboratory Head at UNSW, where she leads a multidisciplinary research program spanning mechanistic immunology and translational vaccinology. Her work focuses on understanding how immune responses can protect against challenging infectious threats, including bacterial infections and infections associated with autoimmune disease.
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Muscle Cell Communication and Repair
Dr. William Roman is a Group Leader at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University. He obtained his PhD from Paris Descartes University and Freie University of Berlin, focusing on nuclear positioning during skeletal muscle development. Dr. Roman’s research journey has taken him across the globe, including postdoctoral work in Barcelona, tissue engineering in Lisbon, and a brief stint at Stanford University.
At ARMI, Dr. Roman leads innovative research on intercellular communication within muscle organs. His work involves growing human muscles on chips to understand how skeletal muscle cells interact with neurons and tendons. This research aims to develop better models for studying muscle diseases, drug screening, and even applications in cellular agriculture and biorobotics.
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Next Generation Condom Contraception, Dr Simon Cook
Dr. Simon Cook, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Operations at Eudaemon Technologies, has had a diverse and impactful career journey. Beginning with a background in biotechnology from the University of Wollongong, his focus on bacterial pathogenesis during his PhD led him to study Group A Strep and the streptokinase protein.
Subsequently, Dr. Cook ventured into a unique project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he became involved in the development of a next-generation condom to address existing issues such as feel, odour, and taste.
