THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND
Research Field: Obstetrics and Gynecological Oncology
The key aspect of Dr Salomon’s research is “communication”, specifically,
communication between different organs in our body via small vesicles called
exosomes (like bubbles). Exosomes essentially act as “letters”, travelling long
distances via the bloodstream to deliver the message to other organs and have the
extraordinary ability to capture a snapshot of what’s going on inside the organs.
His research has been focussing specifically on ovarian cancer and pregnancy
complications. Through a combined miRNA sequencing and quantitative mass
spectrometry approach, his team have developed a classification model based
on a specific set of exosomal markers to identify women with early stage ovarian
cancer, with over 90% accuracy (positive and negative predictive values over
90%).
In terms of pregnancy complications, his research has investigated the
release of exosomes by the placenta during gestation, and their utility as a
biomarker. This is crucial as poor pregnancy outcomes resulting from pregnancy
complications remain the most important modifiable risk factor. This research has
established the clinical utility of exosomes as liquid biopsies for early stages of
ovarian cancer and complications of pregnancy.