SUPPORTIVE CARE FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH OR BEYOND CANCER TREATMENT
Dr Hannah Wardill, Hospital Research Foundation Fellow, University of Adelaide & Head of Supportive Oncology Group (Precision Cancer Medicine)
SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute)
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Adelaide, South Australia | January 2025
Dr Hannah Wardill is a Hospital Research Foundation Fellow and lead of the Supportive Oncology Research Group (SORG), in the School of Biomedicine, University of Adelaide and Precision Cancer Medicine Theme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). She is an Executive Board Member of the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer / International Society for Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) and Chair of both MASCC/ISOO Patient Partnership Committee & the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC) Cancer Symptom Trials (Gut Dysfunction Node; supported by Cancer Australia).
While her research started in understanding how chemotherapy damages gut health, Dr Wardill’s research program has now expanded to include a range of symptoms and side effects including neuropathy, cognitive impairment, infection and malnutrition.
A fierce advocate for supportive cancer care, Dr Wardill is working to improve the visibility of this research area and remind people that optimal cancer control can (and should) involve high quality, evidence-based supportive care to ensure people living with or beyond cancer can live happy and fulfilling lives.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6613-3661
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Infections and other lung diseases using models of human lung tissue grown from stem cells
Dr Rhiannon Werder is a Team Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute leading a multidisciplinary team, combining expertise in stem cell biology and immunology, to develop new therapies for lung diseases. Her research centres around induced pluripotent stem cells to investigate respiratory diseases, spanning acute respiratory infections to chronic lung diseases. Using stem cells, Dr Werder’s team creates models of human lung tissue. With these models, Dr Werder is investigating how human-specific pathogens infect different regions of the lung, the ensuing immune responses, and how the lung repairs itself after infections, especially in people with preexisting lung diseases.
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Cellular mechanisms of traumatic brain injury & concussion
Professor Melinda Fitzgerald is Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research at Curtin University, John Curtin Distinguished Professor and CEO of Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia.
She has published over 135 papers; recent highlights include Lancet Neurology, J Neuroscience, Nature Nano, ACS Nano, Biomaterials. Currently held grants/Projects total $10.1 million; CIA for $5.2 million of these; $18.5 million total research and equipment funding, $9.9 million as CIA; continuous category 1 grant funding as CIA since 2009.
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Dr Jasmine Kaur
RESEARCH IN IMMUNOTHERAPY
@ GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
