Dr Leonie Quinn wins brain cancer research funding

22 November 2017

Dr Leonie Quinn has been awarded a 2017 Innovation Grant from the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.

Dr Quinn will receive $100,000 each year over the next two years to study drug targets for oligodendroglioma, the second most common primary brain cancer in adults.

"Survival for primary brain cancer, or glioma, patients has not improved in over 30 years," she said. 

"The grant will provide us with an exciting opportunity to explore how brain cancer occurs and ultimately develop new treatments." 

The project, which will start in early 2018, aims to identify new predictive markers within these types of tumours and investigate drug therapies for specific tumours based on their molecular causes.

This study will enable more personalised treatments, which are critical to improving survival rates and quality of life for people diagnosed with the disease.

Cure Brain Cancer Foundation Chief Executive Officer Michelle Stewart congratulated Dr Quinn for winning the grant.

"With our Innovation Grants, we are backing ambitious projects with potentially high reward, and I'm very excited to see the results of Dr Quinn's project over the coming years," she said.

Dr Quinn will collaborate with Professor Ross Hannan from the ACRF Department of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics at JCSMR, and Professor David Levens and Professor Mark Gilbert from The Center for Cancer Research in the United States.