Staff
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Professor Caroline Ford - BSc(Hons), PhD
Caroline is the leader of the Gynaecological Cancer Research Group. She is motivated to improve outcomes for people with gynaecological cancer and to increase awareness and reduce stigma of these diseases. Google Scholar
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Dr Kristina Warton - BSc(Hons), PhD
Kristina is a postdoctoral research fellow who has returned to academia after a career in industry. She leads our early detection project but her interests also extend into our ascites liquid biopsy project. She loves qPCR and is passionate about conducting ethical and sustainable scientific practice.
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Dr Dongli Liu - BSc, MEng, PhD
Dr Dongli Liu is an early career researcher with 6 years postdoctoral research experience. She has expertise in Next Generation Sequencing and wet lab techniques. Since joining our team in 2018, she has led several projects on identifying novel biomarkers in ovarian and endometrial cancer. Google Scholar
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Dr Marilisa Cortesi - BBME, MBME, PhD
Marilisa was awarded her PhD in Bioengineering in 2017 from the University of Bologna (Italy). Her research focuses on using computational simulation and other advanced analysis methods to better understand cancer progression and improve treatment. Since September 2021 she is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow within the ITHACA project.
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Dr Ellen Barlow - RN, BN, MN(Hons), PhD
Ellen is a registered nurse supporting various projects for the GCRG. She has more than 20 years’ experience caring for people with a gynaecological cancer and has been extensively involved in gynaecological cancer clinical research. Ellen’s master’s and PhD research focused on vulvar cancer.
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Dr Bonnie Werner - BAdvSc(Hons), PhD
Bonnie is a postdoctoral scientist with a focus on our ovarian cancer liquid biopsy projects. She is implementing her skills in molecular and cell biology to advance developments of ovarian cancer diagnostic techniques, and has an interest in science communication and education. Google Scholar
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Dr Tim Salita - BBmedSc, MSc, PhD
Tim is a Project Coordinator providing functional project management, and administrative and biobank operations support. He completed his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Melbourne. He strives to narrow the communication gap between non- and scientific communities.
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Teagan Fisher - BAdvSc, BMedSc(Hons)
Teagan is an early career research assistant working on our ovarian cancer early detection project. Teagan has expertise in PCR, CRISPR and cell culture and she is interested in promoting gynaecological health and health literacy.
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Brigitte Hodder RN, MPH
Brigitte is a research officer and registered nurse working closely with participants and supporters of GCRG research. Having worked in the fertility surgical space, she also has keen interests in public health, and endometriosis and its association with fertility.
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Kate Gunther - BAdvSc(Hons)
Kate is a PhD student who will start in 2022. Through creating in vitro models from real patients, she hopes to find treatment options for people with endometriosis. She is passionate about increasing accessibility and equality in STEMM. Google Scholar
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Sumyukta Garikapati - BMedSc, BSc(Hons)
Sumyukta is a PhD student focusing on developing 3D in vitro models for endometrial and ovarian cancers to better model disease and test drug efficacy. She is interested in translational medicine and is passionate about increasing outcomes for those affected by gynaecological diseases.
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Aarya Tickoo -
Aarya is an honours student investigating what advantages exist in repurposing drug therapies to target markers that are common in endometrial cancer. Aarya is excited to develop her skills in research and is motivated to enlighten and inform communities more about gynaecological health.
Consumer partners
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Gillian Begbie
Gillian Begbie is an experienced and trained cancer consumer who has worked closely with the GCRG for 6 years on developing ovarian cancer research projects. Through CCNSW, NBCF, Cancer Voices NSW and SPHERE, Gillian encourages cancer researchers to think about their work from the perspective of health care consumers, such as patients, their friends and family members.
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Gill Stannard
Gill is a long-term ovarian cancer survivor, naturopath and experienced consumer. She works closely with a number of researchers and advisory groups, and is a member of ANZGOG’s Consumer Review Panel.
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Kathryn Leaney
Kathryn is an experienced and trained cancer consumer who has worked closely with the GCRG for over 6 years on developing ovarian cancer research projects. Kathryn also works as a consumer advisor for the Translational Cancer Research Network, CCNSW, NBCF, Cancer Australia, Cancer Voices NSW and CNV.
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Jacinta Frawley
Jacinta was previously diagnosed with Stage 3C ovarian cancer. She contributes to fundraising, political advocacy, awareness raising, and social support of those with ovarian cancer. She is an active consumer on national and international ovarian cancer research projects.
Jacinta was part of the team which won Best New Podcast at the 2022 Australian Podcast Awards for the podcast On the Down Low: speaking up about ovarian cancer.
Graduate student alumni
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Nicole Yuwono, PhD
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Claire Henry, PhD
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Sean Si Quan Ma, PhD
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Gayathiri Punnia-Moorthy, PhD