Researcher Profile: Tessa Gargett
In 2018, Tessa Gargett was awarded the UniSA Chris Adams Research grant. She shares with us here what the grant enabled her to do and how this has positively impacted her brain cancer research.
Researcher Profile: Tessa Gargett
Research Associate, Centre for Cancer Biology/SA Pathology/UniSA
In 2018, Tessa Garget was awarded the UniSA Chris Adams Research grant. She shares with us here what the grant enabled her to do and how this has positively impacted her brain cancer research.
Can you please provide an overview of your research project funded by the 2018 UniSA Chris Adams grant?
We are developing a new form of therapy for brain cancer. It is a cell-based therapy that is manufactured from a patient’s own white blood cells. This type of therapy (known as CAR-T cell therapy) has had dramatic results in patients with lymphoma, with many patients completely cleared of their cancer. We want to extend the promise to other patients, such as those with glioblastoma. We are also hoping to target a rare childhood brain cancer known as Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG). We have shown that our CAR-T cells can kill glioblastoma in the lab and are now preparing to test them in clinical trials.
What did you use the funding to do?
I have used the funding to further our collaboration with Dr David Ziegler at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, a world-specialist in DMG, and with a leading research group in Stanford who have a similar CAR-T cell therapy trial planned for next year. The funding allowed Dr Ziegler to send us precious blood and tumour samples to test and we have confirmed that we can make CAR-T cells for these patients and that they work in the lab.
Can you please provide an overview of the outcomes of the research funding?
In early 2020 we will submit applications to the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the relevant human research ethics committees to get approval for two clinical trials, one for glioblastoma patients at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and one for DMG patients at the Sydney Children’s Hospital. We hope that we will be able to begin recruiting patients for these trials next year.
About the Chris Adams UniSA Research Grant
The annual $5,000 grant has been made possible thanks to the memorial Chris Adams UniSA Research Grant that pays homage to Chris Adams’ indomitable spirit to help others facing a brain cancer diagnosis.
Chris Adams lost his battle with the rare grade-three anaplastic astrocytoma brain tumour in November 2015, in the midst of his UniSA business degree.
Taken far too early by a disease that has devastating effects on the lives of patients and their loved ones, Chris’ family is now dedicated to honouring his memory and spirit by supporting vital research to find a cure with the Chris Adams UniSA Research Grant.
Chris’s family and friends established the ‘Strong Enough To Live’ campaign raising $125,000 to support the grant which will be awarded each year to an early-career researcher working in a field of high-quality brain tumour research.
