On Thursday 29 May, Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Patron of Cancer Council ACT, hosted a special Australia's Biggest Morning Tea event at Government House for volunteers, supporters and researchers.
At the event, Dr. Di Wang and Dr. Olga Zaytseva, both from the Australian National University (ANU), were officially announced as the 2025 Cancer Council ACT Research Grant recipients.
Dr. Wang received the grant for his project titled "Harnessing RNA-Protein Interactions for the Regulation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression". His project aims to design small molecules to control specific cancer-promoting genes in order to improve therapies for people living with liver cancer.
"With the support of this grant, we will build on our understanding of these RNA hairpin structures and also investigate the potential of small molecules to bind and stabilise these elements," said Dr. Wang.
The hope is that "this will restore their ability to regulate MAT2A through the target mRNA, which plays a key role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development."
"I gratefully acknowledge the support from Cancer Council ACT, which has been instrumental in advancing this research project."
Dr. Zaytseva was awarded the grant for her research into "Rational approaches to identify new treatments for primary brain cancer." Her project aims to identify new drugs effective at killing brain cancer cells, by specifically targeting their energy production which is disrupted compared to normal cells.
"Studying brain cancer cells collected via the ACT Brain Cancer Biobank that closely resemble patient tumours, we will maximise chances that our findings will ultimately inform effective tumour treatments."
Dr. Zaytseva's research is further strengthened by collaboration with the Canberra Hospital, connecting laboratory researchers with the clinicians and creating a direct pipeline from laboratory discoveries to potential clinical applications.
"We are thrilled to support Dr Wang and Dr Zaytseva's innovative work, both of which have the potential to lead to meaningful advances in cancer treatment right here in the ACT. This progress is made possible by the generosity of our community and fundraising efforts like Australia's Biggest Morning Tea," said Verity Hawkins, CEO of Cancer Council ACT.
Canberrans are encouraged to host their own Australia's Biggest Morning Tea events until the end of June.
Key Facts:
*Cancer Council ACT has awarded two grants of $75,000 to Dr Di Wang and Dr. Olga Zaytseva both from the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the ANU.
*The projects funded include research into liver cancer therapies and identifying effective drugs to combat brain cancer.
*The awards were hosted at Government House by Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Patron of Cancer Council ACT
*Cancer Council relies on community fundraising to fund these research grants, and is encouraging Canberrans to host a Biggest Morning Tea.
