University of Newcastle Professor Matt Dun is set to receive the Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) Medal, recognizing his contributions to health and medical research, particularly in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). The award ceremony will take place at a National Press Club event on October 22, 2024.
Professor Dun plans to use this platform to advocate for greater investment in Australian health and education, emphasizing the need for sustainable funding for medical researchers. "So many researchers live year-to-year on short-term contracts. This is after they’ve spent up to ten years studying," he notes, highlighting the precarious nature of research careers.
Advancing DIPG Treatment
Dun's research has focused on DIPG, a highly aggressive and difficult-to-treat childhood brain tumor. A clinical trial initiated in 2021 using a combination of drugs has shown promising results, doubling the survival duration of patients with advanced or progressive disease.
"The clinical trial that started in 2021 continues. We have used a combination of drugs to double survival duration of patients enrolled with advanced or progressive disease," says Professor Dun.
Understanding Treatment Response
Ongoing research aims to understand the variability in treatment response among DIPG patients. Specifically, the team is investigating why some children respond better when receiving the drugs later in their treatment journey. They hypothesize that steroids, often administered later, may dampen the immune response, influencing the drugs' effectiveness.
"Now we are trying to find out why some kids do better when they receive the drugs later in the journey compared to those when they are diagnosed. We think it’s because steroids that are given later in child’s journey dampen immune function, reducing side effects but also reducing negative effects that the immune cells exposed to our drugs have on the tumour," Professor Dun explains.
The drugs being used hyperactivate the immune response, and researchers are exploring ways to capitalize on this effect. Pre-clinical studies are underway to assess the impact of low-dose steroids in combination with the therapies.
The Need for Patient-Relevant Models
Professor Dun emphasizes the importance of using patient-relevant models, such as living avatars, for toxicity and efficacy studies. He argues that cell-based studies alone do not provide sufficient information for predicting patient outcomes. "But we really need to run toxicity and efficacy studies using our treatments in living avatars. Doing studies just based on cells in a dish doesn’t provide us with patient-relevant information," says Professor Dun.
Professor Dun will travel across Australia from October 21st to 28th to deliver the ASMR Medallist speech, advocating for improved outcomes for patients and sustainable research funding.
