The University of Adelaide and SAHMRI
Research Field: Cancer Research
Dr Susan Wood’s research group is focused on unravelling gastrointestinal cancers at the molecular level, alongside the preclinical validation of in-vitro culture techniques and novel therapeutics.
Colorectal cancer is a huge problem in Australia. Her research is interested in the cells that help this gut lining to grow and how this normal relationship is hijacked by abnormal cancer cells, allowing them to grow in an uncontrolled way. Dr Wood and her team are currently testing a new drug to target these support cells in a mouse model of colorectal cancer and human samples grown in our laboratory.
Dr Wood’s research has also led to her laboratory recently identifying the cause of inherited stomach cancer syndrome. This discovery has instant clinical relevance and, for the first time, allows informed genetic counselling for Australian families and similarly affected families around the world.
Dr Wood has been involved with CanToo, Cure Cancer Australia, Cancer Council, Science Alive and University Open days. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)