{"id":245048,"date":"2025-09-21T23:59:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T23:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/245048\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T23:59:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T23:59:15","slug":"unisa-scientists-awarded-2-9m-to-investigate-genetic-causes-of-deadly-childhood-brain-cancer-news-and-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/245048\/","title":{"rendered":"UniSA scientists awarded $2.9m to investigate genetic causes of deadly childhood brain cancer – News and events"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n 22 September 2025 \n <\/p>\n

\"Jess
\n11-year-old Jess Bickley lost her battle with brain cancer in September 2023, five months after being diagnosed with diffuse midline glioma.<\/p>\n

UniSA scientists will use a $2.9 million Federal Government grant to uncover the genetic drivers of diffuse midline glioma (DMG), the most devastating paediatric brain cancer that kills around 25 children in Australia every year.<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Quenten Schwarz will lead a team of researchers in Adelaide and Sydney over the next five years, using engineered and patient-derived stem cell technology to investigate the genetic abnormalities present in children with the disease and identify better treatment options.<\/p>\n

His project is one of three brain cancer research groups in Australia awarded a total of $23.3 million by the Medical Research Future Fund<\/a>, announced over the weekend.<\/p>\n

With no cure, and an average survival rate of just nine months following diagnosis, Assoc Prof Schwarz says more research is urgently needed to address this brutal disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been very little progress made in identifying the causes and finding effective treatments for DMG over decades,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to do better\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis grant offers an exciting opportunity to pioneer a new approach to uncover the genetic and environmental factors that lead to the development of childhood brain cancer.<\/p>\n

\"quenten-schwarz.png\"
\nCCB neuroscientist Associate Professor Quenten Schwarz will lead a 5-year project to investigate the genetic causes of childhood brain cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are limited treatment options right now, but we believe our research will provide vital insights into the mechanism behind the origins of DMG, paving the way for more effective therapies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Led by UniSA\u2019s Centre for Cancer Biology, the project will bring together leading brain tumour research groups across Adelaide and will be delivered in close collaboration with the Children\u2019s Cancer Institute in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Adelaide father Steve Bickley lost his 11-year-old daughter Jess to brain cancer in September 2023, nine months after her first symptoms (recurring pain in her neck).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe diagnosis in April 2023 came like a bolt out of the blue,\u201d Steve says. \u201cNothing can prepare you for that. We were told there was no cure, and \u2018to go home and make memories\u2019 for the short time that Jess had left.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past two years Steve has supported charities in Adelaide and interstate to fund much needed research into DMG in the hope that other parents can be spared the same fate in years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch is vital into this cruel and devastating disease. It\u2019s heartening to know that Adelaide has some of the best brain cancer scientists in the country who will be doing everything possible to uncover the causes and best treatment options for DMG.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Researcher contact: <\/strong>Assoc Prof Quenten Schwarz E: <\/strong>quenten.schwarz@unisa.edu.au<\/a>

Media contact:<\/strong> Candy Gibson M:<\/strong> +61 434 605 142 E:<\/strong> candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 22 September 2025 11-year-old Jess Bickley lost her battle with brain cancer in September 2023, five months…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":245049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[94084,130388,130386,130387,815,159,54158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-245048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-brain-cancer","9":"tag-childhood-brain-cancer","10":"tag-diffuse-midline-glioma","11":"tag-dmg","12":"tag-genetics","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-stem-cells","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115245007767597628","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}