Dr Anneke Blackburn, an expert in the use of a cheap, non-toxic drug, known as DCA, as a cancer therapy. Dr Blackburn’s pre-clinical studies on the effect of DCA in breast cancer have been extended to include work on colon cancer, prostate cancer, sarcomas and multiple myeloma and will result in the first clinical trial of the drug with multiple myeloma patients in Australia at The Canberra Hospital late in 2014.

Dr Blackburn’s research is investigating how metabolism controls the ability of cancer cells to grow, spread and resist cell death. The results will be used to target cancer cells with DCA, with the potential to offer additional treatment options for people with recurrent cancer.