Dr. Jessamy Tiffen is an Australian Scientist and senior researcher in the Melanoma Immunology and Oncology Program at the Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology at the University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. [1] [2] Her work primarily focuses on fundamental cell biology, examining the transformation of normal cells into cancerous ones and their responses to different treatments. [3] [4]
Tiffen's interest in science stems from conversations with her grandfather growing up, a microbiologist who studied foot rot. [1]
Tiffen's work focuses on melanoma, and why some melanomas respond to treatment in certain individuals but others do not. One specific area of interest for Tiffen is understanding why melanoma is the most common cancer among young Australians aged 15 to 39, comprising 20% of all cancer cases in this age group and being a significant cause of mortality among those aged 20 to 39. [1] [5]
Tiffen co-authored a study in 2016 which identified a drug that could be effective in fighting melanoma, [6] and is currently researching a new treatment strategy with Dr. Hsin-Yi Tseng that involves inducing melanoma cellular self-destruction. [7]
Her thesis was titled Characterising the functional effects of BORIS and CTCF using in vitro and in vivo models, and completed in 2011. [8]
"Melanoma is the most common form of cancer affecting young Australians which is extremely sad but which is also extremely motivating,” she says. “Understanding the mechanics behind melanoma treatment resistance is essential to developing new drugs and finding new cures which will help save lives.” [9]
Following the completion of her Ph.D.in Cancer Genetics, along with a post-doctoral research stint at the renowned Sanger Institute situated in Cambridge, Tiffen expanded her research portfolio to encompass the field of onco-immunology. [10]
Her scholarly contributions include authorship of 26 peer-reviewed publications, spanning the domains of oncology and melanoma. She has published in journals such as Lancet Oncology, Nature Genetics [11] (published twice), Cancer Research [12] [13] [14] , Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Neoplasia, Molecular Cancer, and Journal of Pathology. [15]
Furthermore, Tiffen's scientific knowledge research funding, includes grants totaling over half a million dollars. In the capacity of chief investigator, she has secured substantial financial support to propel her research in cancer research and onco-immunology.
Beyond her research, she also serves as a safety officer for the gender equity program and participates in the graduate students committee at the Centenary Institute, showcasing her commitment to various aspects of her field. [16]
"I had a series of fantastic female science teachers who were extremely passionate about their work and who were absolutely committed to their students. They were all so positive and allowed my curiosity to flourish. They also helped me to believe in myself – to realize that I was good enough to take my science to a higher level and that there would be career opportunities out there for me. Looking back, I realize how essential it was, having such supportive female teachers encouraging me at such a formative stage of my life. I’ve benefited greatly in my current role,” she explains.
“The Centenary Institute has policies in place allowing part-time work and flexible hours for mothers. I also have access to a research assistant and was awarded a Carers Travel Award that allowed me to attend a major scientific conference with my baby. It’s this type of support that should be available in all organizations.” [9]
Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while immunotherapies that reduce or suppress are classified as suppression immunotherapies. Immunotherapy is under preliminary research for its potential to treat various forms of cancer.
Cancer immunotherapy is the stimulation of the immune system to treat cancer, improving on the immune system's natural ability to fight the disease. It is an application of the fundamental research of cancer immunology and a growing subspecialty of oncology.
Celgene Corporation is a pharmaceutical company that makes cancer and immunology drugs. Its major product is Revlimid (lenalidomide), which is used in the treatment of multiple myeloma, and also in certain anemias. The company is incorporated in Delaware, headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, and a subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS).
Targeted therapy or molecularly targeted therapy is one of the major modalities of medical treatment (pharmacotherapy) for cancer, others being hormonal therapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy. As a form of molecular medicine, targeted therapy blocks the growth of cancer cells by interfering with specific targeted molecules needed for carcinogenesis and tumor growth, rather than by simply interfering with all rapidly dividing cells. Because most agents for targeted therapy are biopharmaceuticals, the term biologic therapy is sometimes synonymous with targeted therapy when used in the context of cancer therapy. However, the modalities can be combined; antibody-drug conjugates combine biologic and cytotoxic mechanisms into one targeted therapy.
Steven A. Rosenberg is an American cancer researcher and surgeon, chief of Surgery at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland and a Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He pioneered the development of immunotherapy that has resulted in the first effective immunotherapies and the development of gene therapy. He is the first researcher to successfully insert foreign genes into humans.
Ipilimumab, sold under the brand name Yervoy, is a monoclonal antibody medication that works to activate the immune system by targeting CTLA-4, a protein receptor that downregulates the immune system.
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) are white blood cells that have left the bloodstream and migrated towards a tumor. They include T cells and B cells and are part of the larger category of ‘tumor-infiltrating immune cells’ which consist of both mononuclear and polymorphonuclear immune cells, in variable proportions. Their abundance varies with tumor type and stage and in some cases relates to disease prognosis.
Wolfram Samlowski is an American medical oncologist with Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada (CCCN) and a member of the Research Developmental Therapeutics and Genitourinary Committees for US Oncology. His research interests include translational research and development of novel cancer immunotherapy agents, translational drug development as well as gene therapy. His clinical interests are in developing more effective treatments for advanced stages of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, and renal cancer.
Nivolumab, sold under the brand name Opdivo, is a medication used to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes melanoma, lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma, renal cell carcinoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, head and neck cancer, urothelial carcinoma, colon cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, liver cancer, gastric cancer, and esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer. It is used by slow injection into a vein.
James Patrick Allison is an American immunologist and Nobel laureate who holds the position of professor and chair of immunology and executive director of immunotherapy platform at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas.
Talimogene laherparepvec, sold under the brand name Imlygic, is a biopharmaceutical medication used to treat melanoma that cannot be operated on; it is injected directly into a subset of lesions which generates a systemic immune response against the recipient's cancer. The final four year analysis from the pivotal phase 3 study upon which TVEC was approved by the FDA showed a 31.5% response rate with a 16.9% complete response (CR) rate. There was also a substantial and statistically significant survival benefit in patients with earlier metastatic disease and in patients who hadn't received prior systemic treatment for melanoma. The earlier stage group had a reduction in the risk of death of approximately 50% with one in four patients appearing to have met, or be close to be reaching, the medical definition of cure. Real world use of talimogene laherparepvec have shown response rates of up to 88.5% with CR rates of up to 61.5%.
Viralytics Ltd is an Australian biotechnology company working in the field of oncolytic viruses, that is, viruses that preferentially infect and kill cancer cells. The company's oncolytic virus product, called Cavatak, is currently in clinical trials in metastatic melanoma and other cancers. The drug was granted Orphan Drug status in advanced melanoma in December 2005.
PD-1 inhibitors and PD-L1 inhibitors are a group of checkpoint inhibitor anticancer drugs that block the activity of PD-1 and PDL1 immune checkpoint proteins present on the surface of cells. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are emerging as a front-line treatment for several types of cancer.
Akseli Hemminki July 27, 1973 (Helsinki) is a Finnish specialist in Oncology and Radiotherapy, Professor of Oncology and founder of two biotechnology companies.
Carl H. June is an American immunologist and oncologist. He is currently the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. He is most well known for his research on T cell therapies for the treatment of several forms of cancers. In 2020 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
Lorenzo Galluzzi is an Italian and French cell biologist best known for his experimental and conceptual contributions to the fields of cell death, autophagy, tumor metabolism and tumor immunology.
Ashani Tanuja Weeraratna is a Sri Lanka-born American cancer researcher whose findings are contributing to the scientific understanding of melanoma tumors. She is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of cancer biology and the E.V. McCollum Professor and Chair of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Weeraratna is a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board, which advises and assists the director of the National Cancer Institute on the activities of the national cancer program.
Özlem Türeci is a German physician, scientist and entrepreneur. In 2008, she co-founded the biotechnology company BioNTech, which in 2020 developed the first messenger RNA-based vaccine approved for use against COVID-19. Türeci has served as BioNTech's chief medical officer since 2018. Since 2021, she has been Professor of Personalized Immunotherapy at the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON) and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Türeci and her spouse, Uğur Şahin, have won a number of awards.
Antoni Ribas is a Spanish-American physician‐scientist. He is a Professor of Medicine, Surgery, and Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Director of the Tumor Immunology Program at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Ribas served as president of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in 2021-2022.
Yardena Samuels or Samuels-Lev is an Israeli molecular biologist who is the Director of the Ekard Institute for Cancer Diagnosis Research at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Her research considers the genetic mutations of melanoma.
| Authority control databases: Academics |
|---|
