Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is one of the biggest causes of non-traumatic death in children and 30% of those who do eradicate their disease relapse within 5 years. Current methods of combating relapse involve intense chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant, but these are highly toxic and risky approaches. In order to improve long-term survival outcomes, we need more effective therapies targeted to an individual patient’s specific disease.
Dr Laura Eadie’s team sequences the genetic code of a patient’s leukaemia cells to identify the leukaemia-causing mutations. They also create humanised mouse avatars for leukaemia patients and use them in pre-clinical drug trials. Combined, these models allow them to identify effective therapies tailored to each patient.
Currently, Dr Laura Eadie is a Cancer Council South Australia Beat Cancer Fellow based at the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). She is also a Senior Affiliate Lecturer at The University of Adelaide, in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.
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