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Many disciplines to address evasion of treatment

Jody Hazlett preserves samples in liquid nitrogen for future use in breast cancer research
Assistant Research Fellow Jody Hazlett preserves samples in liquid nitrogen for future breast cancer research.

The Centre for Translational Cancer Research has investigators trained in many disciplines, ranging from biology and chemistry to oncology and surgery. As tumours have multiple ways of evading treatment and becoming resistant to chemotherapy, we need multiple ways to target the cancer throughout its progression.  This requires drugs being targeted to many proteins which have diverse functions.

Three avenues of approach

Medicinal chemistry involves integrating approaches to increase effectiveness and minimise harm.

  • Better drug accessibility to cells
  • Lower required dose and increased drug safety
  • Target drugs to cancer cells only

D4 network

Diagnostics, Drugs, Devices and Discovery, the D4 network at Otago is working alongside CTCR to target cancer treatments.

Bioactive Molecules

Using natural products as a start point for synthesis of compounds with significant biological activity, the Hawkins group are focusing on bioactive molecules.

Clinical trials

Clinical trials play an vital role on the pathway to offering a new drug. We work with Cancer Trials New Zealand.
Cancer Trials NZ website

Related topics

Research personnel

Our postgraduate students

Hawkins Group

  • Mitch Clark (master's student0
  • Richard Lamb (PhD student)
  • Alex Craig (PhD student)
  • Sinan Gai (PhD student)
  • Brooke Swaney (PhD student)
  • Robert Smith (PhD student)
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