Posted: 15 January 2026
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has been awarded more than $7.5 million through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ideas Grants, with five projects having been funded to investigate cancer spread, treatment resistance and immune-based approaches.
The Ideas Grants scheme has been intended to back innovative studies that have tackled a clearly defined research question.
Acting Executive Director Cancer Research, Professor Jayesh Desai, has said the result has been significant for Peter Mac and cancer research.
“It is wonderful to see five exciting projects being funded that will further advance our understanding of cancer metastases, resistance, and how we can better harness our immune system,” he has said.
“The NHMRC Ideas Grants are highly competitive, making this outstanding result even more impressive. Sincere congratulations to the successful applicants, our Professional Services Team and the Research Consumer Advocates who all helped shape the research projects.”
Funding has been awarded to Associate Professor Melanie Eckersley Maslin and Dr Eleanor Glancy to study how breast cancer cell plasticity has been controlled, using new molecular methods and tools. Associate Professor Ian Parish’s work has been supported to modify CAR T-cells to better withstand “exhaustion” in solid tumours.
Dr Elizabeth Christie’s study has been funded to characterise chemotherapy-surviving ovarian cancer cells and examine how they have interacted with surrounding and immune cells. Dr Isabelle Munoz’s project has been supported to develop ‘armoured’ CAR T-cells to improve long-term performance and safety in solid cancers.
Professor Steven Stacker’s research has been funded to investigate how tumors have influenced blood and lymphatic vessels in distant organs, with signals and timing having been examined to inform future strategies to predict and prevent cancer progression.
