The Inspirational Research Grants were established to bridge the funding gap and support research into the prevention, treatment, and improved lives of those affected by thoracic cancers.
We are incredibly proud to support researchers driving forward world-class science, and we are equally excited as the next round of Inspirational Research Grants is set to be awarded soon. These funds provide a launchpad, empowering early and mid-career researchers to turn promising ideas into life-changing realities.
But before we look ahead, let’s check in with the inaugural 2024 grant recipients. Their progress over the last year is a testament to the power of targeted funding and dedicated scientific endeavour.
Revisiting the 2024 Inspirational Research Grant Projects
Here is a look at the important strides each research team has made:
Dr. Lara Edbrooke
Project: Implementing prehabilitation into lung cancer care
Dr. Edbrooke’s project is moving swiftly from preparation to patient impact. The next phase will deliver inspiratory muscle training via telehealth and prehabilitation videos prior to surgery. This work is critical, especially with the upcoming National Lung Cancer Screening Program, ensuring patients are in the best possible condition for surgery. This vital work has already significantly raised Dr. Edbrooke’s profile, leading to national and international invitations to share and shape best practices in lung cancer care.
Dr Tracy Leong
Project: Defining epigenetic causes of immunotherapy resistance through liquid biopsies in lung cancer
Dr. Leong’s grant has enabled her to present the methodology of her work at an internal scientific seminar at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Leong anticipates that her patient recruitment rate will increase as the number of sites participating in the TRACKER biobank expands. The potential findings from this work are significant, and she anticipates having sufficient data to share at an international lung cancer conference in 2026, followed by publication in a high-impact journal.
Dr. Peter Shi
Project: The application of a 3D cell culture model to assess the utility of novel immunotherapy drugs for the treatment of Mesothelioma
Dr. Shi’s team is making remarkable progress in the lab, creating innovative models that replicate crucial immune-tumour interactions. To date, they have collected and sequenced 42 healthy volunteer blood samples, identifying four compatible Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) matches with two mesothelioma patient-derived tumour cells. These advanced models have demonstrated significant cancer cell death with treatment, promising a personalised screening tool for individual patients. Beyond the lab, this TOGA-supported work has already fostered invaluable collaborations with leading researchers and oncologists, established a Mesothelioma Consumer Community, and provided platforms for Dr. Shi to present these exciting findings, accelerating their translation to patient care.
Dr. Vanessa Brunelli
Project: The BIG ISSUE breathlessness in lung cancer study: making breathlessness symptom management usual practice in lung cancer therapy
The team made a strategic decision to use a wide search strategy for the systematic review, acknowledging the limited current evidence on theoretically informed management interventions for lung cancer-generated breathlessness. This resulted in a much larger-than-anticipated database of included studies. The extracted theoretical data will now be utilised to construct a new, dedicated conceptual model to address this deficit.
This project has provided an opportunity for Research Assistant Ms. Chen to attend the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre in the UK, spending a week with Professor Miriam Johnson, a “world giant” in breathlessness research.
Dr. Wasek Faisal
Project: CARE: Developing a Clinical Composite Score for mNSCLC And co-design solutions to bridge Metro vs Regional gap
Dr. Faisal’s team is updating local data from pre-existing databases to include additional study-specific variables and has sent further data requests to the Victorian Lung Cancer Registry (VLCR) and INHALE registry for data linkage. A RedCap database is being built to house the project data, and the statistical plan has been finalised. The recent assignment of a dedicated research officer will now expedite activities to ensure timely project delivery. This project has also significantly increased the visibility of their translational research, leading to approaches from the University of Melbourne and Deakin University to explore medical student placements in their unit.
The progress of these five projects shows the direct, powerful impact of the Inspirational Research Grant. From securing the first patient recruits to building world-first 3D models and navigating the complex administrative landscape of multi-site studies, these researchers are tirelessly moving the dial forward for thoracic cancer patients. We look forward to seeing the continued discoveries from the 2024 cohort and are excited to welcome the next round of brilliant minds who will receive funding soon!
