World-first vaccine to tackle throat cancer
Dr Jai Duraiswamy (below) has won a Queensland Premier’s Award for Medical Research for his work in developing a world-. rst vaccine against Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma or nose and throat cancer (NPC).
A Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) scientist, Dr Duraiswamy personi. es the international focus of Smart State research. Born and raised in India, he is working in Brisbane to create a cure for the most common cancer killer in people of Chinese descent.
“In pre-clinical studies, we have demonstrated that the vaccine provides both protection and cure from these two cancers. More importantly, this concept will likely have applications in treating other human cancers,” Dr Duraiswamy said.
NPC is the biggest and most common cancer killer in people of Chinese descent. In Southern China, 100 people per 100,000 will develop the disease.
Jai’s PhD supervisor and head of QIMR’s Tumor Immunology Laboratory Dr Rajiv Khanna said QIMR was pursuing several exciting commercialisation opportunities in China and will be commencing clinical trials later this year.
QIMR is now Australia’s largest medical research institute with 800 scientists and staff researching 30 diseases and conditions. The Queensland Government contributed $20 million towards the Comprehensive Cancer Research Centre at QIMR.
Last reviewed 19 January 2006