I am very proud of Gavin receiving an SVI Rising Star award for his research investigating how cancer therapies alter the bone marrow microenvironment and, in turn, the support of blood cell production.
Cancer therapies cause significant side effects in patients, and one common side effect is low blood cell counts. These low blood counts can be life-threatening and cause significant delays in the ability of the patient to receive subsequent cancer treatments in a timely manner. In turn, this can allow the cancer cells time to grow back and become resistant to the cancer therapies.
We have been working on understanding why this occurs and to develop methods to improve blood cell counts in cancer patients since 2008, when I established my lab at SVI. Funding from Leukaemia Foundation enabled us to commence this ambitious project and we were also fortunate to receive subsequent funding from National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for some of this work. My first postdoctoral fellow, Dr Maria Askmyr was a key contributor to the early studies and achieved a large amount of data in just 2 years in my lab- I miss you Maria ♥️
Funding is an essential requirement for research- the more $ you have the more you can advance your research! Philanthropy support such as the SVI Rising Star award (and other donations to support research projects) are very important in progressing research. I am very proud of what we have achieved and we are now progressing to identifying therapies to improve blood cell counts in cancer patients (and publish some very exciting results, including a large amount of data that Maria significantly contributed to!). We thank Cancer Australia for contributing to this research as well, supporting Gavin’s research in the last 2 years, significantly advancing one of our goals, to identify how to improve platelet production in cancer patients.
This research program was started in my lab because one of my closest friends was diagnosed with breast cancer. I recognised during the course of her treatment that her ability to receive her next round of cancer treatment was significantly affected by her blood cell counts. We know that cancer therapies can affect maturing blood cells, which are rapidly dividing (like cancer cells!). However the blood-forming stem cells are spared by cancer treatments. So the missing link was why it takes so long for the blood cells to recover (and in some cases, they never recover to normal levels). We now know that missing link is changes occurring in the bone marrow microenvironment, which is the factory for blood cells.
Sadly, my friend Carla passed away in 2013. I miss her very much and remain in contact with her sisters, including Cynthia Hartwig This project is dedicated to Carla’s memory, and in future we hope that her cancer journey will lead to improvements in blood cell counts in many cancer patients whose blood cells are affected by their cancer treatment. That will be Carla’s legacy ♥️
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🌟 Meet SVI Rising Star Award Recipient: Dr Gavin Tjin
Dr Gavin Tjin is microscopist, using his passion for microscopic techniques to solve biological questions – including how cells interact with their environment and how disease and treatment can alter these interactions. He works in SVI's Stem Cell Regulation Lab with Lab Head, Professor Louise Purton.
Gavin has always been interested in learning about biology and medicine, and studied Medical Science in his undergraduate at the University of Sydney. His passion for understanding the biological mechanisms behind diseases grew further during his PhD. Gavin's goal is to improve our understanding and discovering novel solutions to treat diseases.
"It is an honour for me to receive this Rising Star award and I am very grateful to the SVI foundation for giving me this opportunity. The Rising Star award is a significant milestone in my journey as a researcher and it will allow me to further my study of the bone marrow microenvironment and how they are affected by cancer therapies. It is a great boost to my career and morale as a researcher."
Find out how you can support our Rising Stars here: https://lnkd.in/gxtvqa8t
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Facilitator for English ISC
2wSo proud of your hard work and consistency in the path to achieve excellence!!!