成人大片

A 成人大片 researcher investigating the essential processes of cells with the aim of opening up new opportunities for cancer treatment has received a national award.

Dr Qi Zhang, who leads the Epigenetics and Gene Regulation Laboratory at the South Australian Immunogenomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI) at the 成人大片, has been awarded a CSL Centenary Fellowship, worth $1.25 million across five years.

Global biotechnology company CSL established the fellowship in the company鈥檚 centenary in 2016 and recognises two excellent mid-career medical researchers each year.

Dr Zhang, who is a European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Australia fellow, investigates the epigenetic processes that turn genes on and turn off to influence the development of individual cells, which may have positive or negative consequences.

鈥淎ll cells in our body share identical DNA, but what makes them different is the way sets of genes turn on and off in different cell types. These processes are not fully understood,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 am studying how different genes turn on and off, in both normal development and while cancerous cells are active.

鈥淲e want to know what鈥檚 happening in a healthy cell and also what is going wrong in a cancer cell 鈥� when it loses its identity.鈥�

Dr Zhang will use the Fellowship to identify how certain protein complexes influence the future development of cells, and then use that knowledge to create specific drugs that target the epigenetic misregulation of cancers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 complex work that will use different approaches ranging from biochemistry, biophysics, molecular and cell biology, structural biology, genomics and bioinformatics,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e will also explore the therapeutic potential of our basic research findings.鈥�

Professor Anton Middelberg, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research), 成人大片 congratulated Dr Zhang on her Fellowship.

鈥淒r Zhang鈥檚 work has the potential for the development of new kinds of drugs for the treatment of cancer and developmental diseases,鈥� he said.

鈥淭his Fellowship recognises the global significance and value of Dr Zhang鈥檚 work for society.鈥�

Professor Jose Polo Director of Adelaide Centre for Epigenetics and Cancer Epigenetics Program in SAiGENCI recruited Dr Zhang to the Cancer and Epigenetic Program after a very competitive international recruitment campaign.

鈥淭he CSL Fellowship is the type of achievement that underlines the importance of Dr Zhang鈥檚 work. It will empower Dr Zhang to keep innovating in the field of epigenetics and make discoveries that have the potential to cure many diseases,鈥� said Professor Polo.

鈥淭he whole SAiGENCI team is incredibly proud of Dr Zhang鈥檚 major achievement,鈥� said Professor Chris Sweeney, Director of SAiGENCI.

鈥淲e are extraordinarily grateful for the support from the CSL Fellowship that will ensure Dr Zhang will make ground-breaking scientific discoveries.鈥�