Cancer Research

Jagat R Kanwar is the Head and team leader of Nanomedicine-Laboratory of Immunology and Molecular Biomedical Research (NLIMBR), School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Australia. Professor Kanwar has an international reputation and expertise in investigating fundamental and applied molecular signalling aspects of pathogenesis of cancer, chronic inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, thereby, leading to the development of treatment strategies from bench to bedside. He has more than 150 research publications in high impact factor and peer reviewed international journals, 27 book chapters and 3 edited books. Prof Kanwar’s research has generated several patents/PCTs with more than five licensed patents for commercialization to BioPharma industry. His group is currently working on drug discovery and nanomedicine for oral and systemic drug delivery of a range of natural bioactive and biomacromolecules (proteins/peptides, siRNAs and aptamers) for targeting survivin, HIF-1α and other apoptotic and inflammatory cell signalling molecules in cancer, chronic inflammation and neurodegenerative disorders. His research combines Immunology with state of the art and cutting edge techniques in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Nanobiotechnology and visualization to investigate the pathways in which key molecules are regulated in both normal and disease states. A number of in vitro human cell/tissue based co-culture models for cancers, microbial infections; autoimmune diseases; chronic inflammatory diseases (osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel disease), gut health, neurodegeneration and immunomodulation have been developed by his group. Kanwar’s main research objective is to understand and target the mechanisms involved at the molecular and sub cellular level which gives us an edge over the prevalent targeting techniques. He carries out both academic and commercial research projects and develops new approaches for the diagnosis, treatment, and nanomedicine based new generation delivery systems. His recent research focus on locked nucleic acid (LNA) LNA-modified aptamers conjugated "double targeted nano-bullet nanocapsules" with natural anti-tumour proteins which specifically target cancer cells.

Our nanomedicine laboratory of immunology and molecular biomedical research (NLIMBR) is discovering the novel and safe targeted nanomedicine based nano-nutraceuticals for cancers, autoimmune disorders and inflammatory diseases. We also vested the molecular diagnosis including role of a non-invasive exosomes in blood, inflammatory sites and cancer tissues. Our research focused on cancer and inflammatory autoimmune diseases aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms involved in apoptosis, autophagy and inflammation by targeting the production of cytokines, chemokines, oxygen radicals and matrix metalloproteinase. Our research also aims to investigate the nanotherapeutics encapsulating peptides, LNA modified aptamers/miRNAs/siRNA in vivo models. We have made significant progress in field of ocular drug delivery and microfluidic and Lab-on-a-Chip devices techniques for cancer cells as well as stem cell capture, disease specific biomarkers and exosomes.

K.N. Leung graduated with a B.Sc. Degree in Biochemistry (First Class Honors) from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and obtained a Ph.D. Degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University. After two years of postdoctoral work at the Pathology Department of the University of Cambridge, he returned to the CUHK as a Lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry in 1983. K.N. Leung is now a Professor in the School of Life Sciences, CUHK and was appointed as Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Science in 2007, and then Associate Dean (Education) of the Faculty of Science in 2014. He was the chairman of the Hong Kong Society for Immunology from 2000-2002. He has served the Editorial Boards of several international journals and as a peer reviewer for 15 journals. He has over 30 years of experience in teaching and research in Immunology and Cancer Biochemistry. His main research interests include immunopharmacological studies of food components, natural products and Chinese medicinal herbs, cancer immunotherapy, and molecular studies of leukemic cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis.

His main research interests include immunopharmacological studies of food components, natural products and Chinese medicinal herbs, cancer immunotherapy, and molecular studies of leukemic cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis.

Rupinder K Kanwar completed her PhD from PGIMER, India. Since then she has worked in India, New Zealand and Australia, in a variety of positions supporting and building new research programs related to interdisciplinary research, international collaborations and large-scale initiatives ranging from biomedicine to nanomedicine. She has 15 years’ experience in drug discovery targeting cancer and chronic inflammation, and delivered both academic and industry-oriented research with 75 peer reviewed publications. Dr Kanwar is a key inventor in more than 20 published and live patents/ applications. Her current research focuses on targeting molecular pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer with nanodrug and nanodiagnostic developments. At Deakin University, she is providing leadership to her research team on deciphering novel molecular targets for protein biodrugs to treat cancer and cardiomyopathy. She serves as an editorial advisory board member and reviewer of several international journals. Dr Kanwar has been invited as a speaker, and chair in national & international conferences, and her research presentations won awards at conferences

Targeting molecular pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer with nanodrug and nanodiagnostic developments

Zhi Ping(Gordan)Xu obtained his PhD degree in April 2001 from the National University of Singapore, and then did his postdoctoral research at the University of North Texas. In Sept 2003, he joined UQ as a research fellow, and then he was continuously awarded the ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (APD 2005), the ARC Australian Research Fellowship (ARF 2008) and the ARC Future Fellow (2012). Since 2005, he has attracted over $7 million in funding including ARC discovery project grants, ARC linkage project grant, ARC LE grant and NHMRC grant, and many internal UQ grants to support his research in nanomateials and biomedicine. His outstanding research has been also recognised by the UQ prestigious award in 2009 - UQ Foundation Excellence Research Award, and also the UQ Vice-Chancellor's Senior Research Fellowship in 2013.

Cancer, Nanotechnology, Nanomaterials