Head of Division Professor Ursula R Kees Dip Phil II PhD Adjunct Professor, University of Western Australia, Professor Kees has been a researcher at the Institute since its inception in 1990. She is interested in the molecular genetic mechanisms leading to cancer in children. In collaborative studies with the Oncology Total Care Unit at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, she developed new methods for cancer diagnosis.

Divisional Summary
Paediatric cancers comprise a spectrum of diseases. More than half of them affect cells of the immune system and the central nervous system, while only a minority involve epithelial cells, contrasting with cancers in adults. Thus, the most common malignancy in children is leukaemia, followed by brain tumours. Despite marked improvements in the cure rates for paediatric cancers, leukaemias and brain tumours account for half of the deaths. In order to find better therapies for children with cancer, the Oncology Total Care Unit at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) and our division at the institute are both members of the largest study group into these diseases, the US-based Children’s Oncology Group (COG).

The research program of the division focuses on childhood leukaemia and brain tumours. The main aims are the identification of genetic alterations that lead to childhood cancers and the application of this knowledge to the prognosis and improved therapeutic approaches for patients. In order to examine the genetic lesions present in the various types of cancer, we make use of the microarray technology to determine gene expression profiles. The initial studies involved our panel of established leukaemia cell lines since they are ideal tools for subsequent testing of potential new drugs for the treatment of patients. Currently, a large study on primary patient specimens is in progress with the ultimate aim to achieve improved risk stratification for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) patients and to understand the genetic basis for chemoresistance.

Contact
Email - ursula@ichr.uwa.edu.au
Phone - +61 8 9489 7852
Fax - +61 8 9489 7700