The world-wide premiere
All it takes is for one cell to go wrong –
one cell in over 30 trillion.
Cancer touches all of us which is why the work of the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) matters so profoundly. Since its founding, ACRF has been committed to backing brilliant cancer research—providing world-class scientists with the technology, equipment, and infrastructure they need to push boundaries.
ACRF represents care in its most rigorous and accountable form. For every success in the lab, there are many more in the lives of patients.
As proud Patron of ACRF, I honour the researchers whose brilliance saves lives, the families whose courage inspires us, and the supporters whose generosity fuels discovery. This documentary about cancer research has a powerful message: research gives us hope.
Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia
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This documentary would not have been possible without the support of the researchers, who gave us more of their precious time than we could have wished for. They inspired us. We hope they have a similar effect on you.
Lauren’s special area of interest is oncogenic signal transduction. She uses basic biology techniques to understand how specific molecular aberrations function to drive cancer and how these dependencies can be exploited for therapy.
Dr Cohen’s research program aims to develop potent and specific small-molecule telomerase inhibitors as potential cancer therapeutics. Essential to this endeavour has been establishing a foundation in telomerase purification, enzymology, and molecular structure.
An internationally recognized expert in structural glycochemistry, glycobiology, and mass spectrometry, Arun is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics. He heads the mass spectrometry imaging program at the Institute, developing novel techniques to image and map glycans from tissues and cells.
Pablo leads the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Group at the University of Sydney and heads Dermatology at Westmead Hospital. As NSW Lead for the Australian Centre of Excellence in Melanoma Imaging & Diagnosis, he co-heads the Discipline of Dermatology. He is actively engaged in over 50 trials covering melanoma, skin cancer, lymphoma, hidradenitis, and psoriasis.
Kwun is a Thoracic and Sleep Physician at The Prince Charles Hospital and University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre. His research interests are focussed on making and translating research discoveries to improving outcomes and the health of people who are affected by lung disease, particularly lung cancer screening/early detection and biomarkers.
Ian is a renowned Scottish-born Australian immunologist who co-invented the revolutionary HPV vaccine protecting against cervical cancer. The Frazer Institute at The University of Queensland in Brisbane is named in his honor to carry forward his legacy of translating biomedical discoveries into clinical treatments. Ian was named Australian of the Year in 2006 for his monumental contributions to public health and medical science.
Michelle is one of Australia’s leading translational researchers and has become the face of Australian childhood cancer research internationally. She is world-renowned for her research into the childhood cancers neuroblastoma and leukemia, which has led not only to key advances in our understanding of these diseases, but also to new clinical approaches that have improved survival rates.
Jordan specialises in the treatment of paediatric brain tumours. In 2022 he was named Professor at University of Adelaide through the affiliate South Australian Immuno-genomics Cancer Institute and Team Leader, Program Leader – Paediatric Neuro-Oncology at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and clinical lead in Neuro-Oncology.
Before joining CSIRO as CEO, Doug was Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), where he had worked as a researcher since 1986, focussing on understanding how blood cells communicate and using this knowledge to improve disease treatments. Doug is a fierce believer in collaboration across science, industry and government, to translate research into real-world outcomes.
Phil is a biochemist exploring how protein function is controlled in humans by a particular chemical modification his team has identified. He has won several national and international awards for his research which has led to a potential new cancer diagnostic and a therapeutics for clinical testing.
Mark conceived, established and led, the Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, a leading glycoscience research institute. He and his team were responsible for the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of the first ‘designer’ anti-influenza drug, Relenza®. His major research effort is in the area of drug discovery, with a carbohydrate-based drug candidate against sepsis successfully completing Phase 2 human clinical trials.
Michael is a radiation oncologist based in Sydney. He has dedicated his career to clinical leadership, advanced radiotherapy research, and medical education. Today, he co-leads the ACRF Image X Institute, focusing on revolutionising cancer imaging to allow for safer, more effective, and highly targeted radiotherapy treatments.
Ricky oversees about 750 research staff and students and plays a key role in strategic decision making across the organisation. He is also an active cancer researcher who has utilised genetic mouse models to understand the epigenetic changes that underpin tumour onset and progression and to develop new therapies that target epigenetic and transcriptional regulatory proteins.
Paul’s team of scientists, clinical partners and international collaborators create, share and apply novel cancer imaging and targeted radiation therapy methods. Several of these innovations have been translated to clinical practice for improved health care. Outputs from his research include, 42 patents, 20 licenses and three start-up companies.
Georgina leads an extensive clinical trials team and laboratory at MIA, with a focus on immuno-oncology and targeted therapies in melanoma. She is principal investigator on phase I, II and III clinical trials in (neo)adjuvant and metastatic melanoma. She is the chief investigator on NHMRC funded research into the molecular biology of melanoma and was 2024 Australian of the Year with fellow researcher, the late Professor Richard Scolyer AO.
Angel is an experimental immunologist and haematologist with an international reputation for his work on the structure and function of cytokine receptors and their mechanism of action in health and disease. His team works closely with the pharmaceutical industry enabling the practical application of the laboratory’s insights as demonstrated by the development of several anti-receptor antibodies as potential new treatments of allergic inflammatory conditions and certain leukemias.
Ivan is an engineer. His research is in the field of fluid mechanics, with emphasis on turbulent flows. He is a recipient of the Stanley Corrsin Award from the American Physical Society and is a Fellow of the Royal Society, American Physical Society, Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society, Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the Australian Academy of Science.
Jane’s research program dissects the complex interplay between the immune system and cancer, with a particular focus on tumour immune evasion and resistance to immunotherapies such as checkpoint blockade and CAR-T cell therapy. She also leads a Translational Research and Pilot Clinical Trial Development Program focused on translating novel cell-based immunotherapies into pilot clinical trials through the Centre of Excellence in Cellular Immunotherapy.
An internationally recognised translational cancer researcher, Belinda’s work spans laboratory discovery, precision oncology and clinical translation. Her lab focuses on tumour cell crosstalk with the microenvironment, particularly stromal biomarkers that predict risk of early breast cancer recurrence, and tumour markers and targets for precision immunotherapeutic strategies in breast and prostate cancer.
The work of Michael’s lab is internationally recognised with the determination of more than 200 crystal structures of proteins involved in cancer, Alzheimer's disease and infection. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2010 and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2015.
Tri’s interest is in defining the in-vivo contexts of B cell responses and resolving germinal centre selection events in space and time. This involves pioneering technology as well as pioneering thinking. Tri established an intravital two-photon microscope facility.
Hilda established the Telomere Length Regulation Group in late 2012. Her lab’s research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie telomere length control, genomic stability and cellular immortality.
While studying for her Ph.D. from the University of Sydney, Aster discovered a novel mechanism of blood clotting regulation. Her interest lies in improving protein therapeutics for better patient outcomes. She works closely with Professor Philip Hogg.
Roger’s area of research is the immortality of cancer cells, an almost universal characteristic of cancers, with a particular focus on the role of chromosome ends (telomeres). Roger is Co-Director of The ACRF International Centre for the Proteome of Human Cancer (ProCan®) which, in collaboration with cancer researchers around the world, has built an unprecented database of proteomes, with the ultimate aim of finding new cancer treatments.
As Co-Director of ProCan®, Phil leads a team intent on amassing cancer samples from around the world to create a library to help oncologists approach specific cancers. He is also Head of the Cell Signalling Unit at Children’s Medical Research Institute and an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow.
Andrew’s clinical and research interests are focused on developing innovative strategies for targeted therapy of cancer (particularly with monoclonal antibodies), molecular imaging in oncology, and global advocacy in Oncology and Nuclear Medicine. His laboratory has been involved in the preclinical development and first-in-man trials of numerous recombinant antibodies in cancer patients, and seven antibodies developed in his laboratory have been licenced to Biotech and Pharma companies.
Mark is Director of Oncology at Alfred Health, a Professor of Oncology and Co-Director of the Monash Partners Comprehensive Cancer Consortium at Monash University, and Chair of Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials Ltd, Australia and New Zealand's federally funded Co-operative Clinical Trials Group in these cancers. His research includes cancer biology, developmental biology, oncogenic signalling pathways and clinical trials.
Kaylene returned to Melbourne from Harvard Medical School in 2008 to head the Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics. Since then she has built a team of highly skilled research assistants and postdocs who enable researchers to perform unbiased target discovery using high throughput approaches including CRISPR, RNAi and compound screening in both 2D and 3D underpinned by sophisticated cell phenotyping using high content imaging.
Paul aims to understand disease in the context of the surrounding environment using cutting edge in vitro and in vivo imaging technology. Pinpointing the molecular drivers of cancer progression and the environmental cues that cause resistance to current systemic therapy are the focus of his research.
In the last five years, Matt has initiated and led several large international programs that involve close collaboration between leading nanotechnologists, molecular biologists, geneticists and commercial researchers - with the goal of creating cutting-edge diagnostics. He is internationally recognised for his innovative and cross-disciplinary research at the interface between chemistry, nanotechnology, biology and medicine.
While an avowed ‘ad man’ Tom’s career has spanned many categories and countries. Core to his persona is a passion for cancer research developed over many years in his position as Chairman of Australian Cancer Research Foundation. He has since stepped down from that role, but continues to spread the word.
An award-winning film and television producer with over 30 years’ experience in both documentary series and feature films, Stuart’s work includes the prestigious ‘Great Wall of Iron’ (a documentary series on the People's Liberation Army in China), ‘Heaven’s Breath’ a multi-award winning international documentary series on the natural history of the wind, and The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.
Many years ago, Ben had dreams of being the next Jacques Cousteau, but fate introduced him to the world of advertising – along with Tom and Stuart - and he never looked back - until now. The opportunity to combine his past passions for science with his professional talents in communication was too good to miss.