Professor Gary Egan, Director, Monash Biomedical Imaging and Dr Luciano G. Martelotto PhD, Centre for Cancer Research, Monash Institute of Medical Research

Outline

"Multi-modality Biomedical Imaging at Monash University: Collaborative
Research Opportunities"

Professor Gary Egan, Director, Monash Biomedical Imaging

Gary Egan is an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow and the Professor and Director of Monash Biomedical Imaging, a platform that encompasses the biomedical imaging research facilities being established at Monash University. He has published over 150 papers and over 250 abstracts in peer reviewed journals. He undertakes high resolution structural and functional brain mapping research and clinical neuroimaging research in Multiple Sclerosis and Huntington’s disease. He is also the lead investigator of the Victorian Biomedical Imaging Capability and Deputy Director of the Australian National Imaging Facility.

"A Model of Acquired Chemoresistance in Small Cell Lung Cancer"

Dr Luciano G. Martelotto PhD, Centre for Cancer Research, 
Monash Institute of Medical Research

Dr Luciano Martelotto is a postdoctoral fellow at Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR), Centre for Cancer research (CCR). Dr Martelotto’s research focuses on the role of the Hedgehog Signalling Pathway in tumour initiation and progression in Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). His work also looks at the genetic and epigenetic basis behind the lethal platinum-resistant recurrence of tumours that occurs rapidly in almost all cases of this disease. His studies make use ofgenetically modified mice and xenograft models to better understand how Hedgehog signalling contributes to tumour regeneration in cancer stem cells, while developing new ways of inhibiting the pathway. Dr Martelotto and Prof. Watkins are generating comprehensive and new understanding of the biological roles acquired in SCLC chemoresistance with the goal of inhibiting the regeneration of tumours following conventional chemotherapy.