ROLE OF METABOLIC DYSFUNCTION IN ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Dr Jennifer Gunter (Filmed March 2024)
Senior Research Associate (Cancer Metabolism),
Australia Prostate Cancer Research Centre – Queensland (APCRC-Q) & Group Leader, Cancer Metabolism Group,
Translational Research Institute (TRI),
Queensland, Australia
Dr Jennifer (Jenni) Gunter is a mid-career researcher, with a metabolic research background spanning almost 15 years. She leads a research team examining the metabolic plasticity of cancer cells with the aim of identifying therapeutic targeting strategies that extend patient survival. Jenni completed her PhD in 2005 at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at Oxford University.
She returned to Australia in 2006 with a University of Queensland Postdoctoral Fellowship at the UQ Diamantina Institute to pursue studies into the turnover and metabolism of adipocytes in obesity.
In 2010, Jenni joined the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, at QUT to research the intersection between chronic metabolic disorders and their emerging relationship to cancer. These studies were focused on the role of insulin and the relationship between the insulin and androgen signalling axes.
Dr Gunter was drawn to the area of prostate cancer research and the intersection between chronic metabolic disorders and their emerging relationship to cancer. Her strengths include expertise in the metabolic syndrome, insulin signalling and metabolism, and she has a demonstrated record of successful and productive research projects in metabolic research where she now applies her efforts to understanding the role of metabolic dysfunction in advanced prostate cancer.
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Benefits of prehabilitation ahead of surgery
Dr Matthew Wallen PhD, AES, AEP is a Senior Research Fellow in Cancer Survivorship, the Deputy Lead of the Cancer Survivorship Program, and a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Science and Clinical Exercise Physiology within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University, in South Australia. His clinical interest focuses on improving outcomes for people requiring major surgery, specifically (1) lifestyle interventions, including exercise, nutritional, and psychological support to improve the health and wellbeing of people prior to surgery, termed ‘prehabilitation’, (2) novel physical function assessments aimed at identifying people at risk of treatment-related complications, and (3) implementation of new models of care in cancer.
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Anaemia guidelines updated after 50 years
Professor Sant-Rayn Pasricha is the Acting Deputy Director at the Walter Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia. He is also a clinical haematologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. From a young age, Prof Pasricha dreamed of becoming a doctor and found joy in learning about the human body and how to care for patients. After completing medical school, he developed a passion for working in low and middle-income countries, which led him to spend time working in East Timor, India, and Central Australia with First Nations communities.
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Targeting chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer patients
Dr Alex Cole, from the Centenary Institute’s Centre for Biomedical AI, is now leading the research focused on developing a new treatment to counteract a protein called follistatin (FST), known for making ovarian cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy.
By employing cutting-edge molecular biology and directed evolution techniques, the project aims to create nanobodies—small, precise molecules—that can block FST. If successful, these nanobodies could enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy and improve ovarian cancer treatment rates.
