Garvan Institute awarded $2.5 million ACRF grant to establish Australia’s first centre for ultra-high-resolution spatial proteomics in cancer

Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) is pleased to announce that Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research will receive $2.5 million as part of its 2025 Grants Program to launch the ACRF MATRIX Centre - Australia’s first dedicated centre for ultra-high-resolution spatial proteomics in cancer. 

While most cancer research focuses only on the cancer cells themselves, the ACRF Centre for Mass spectrometry Analysis of Tumour Response In compleX microenvironments, will map the entire ‘neighbourhood’ around tumour cells: the surrounding proteins, ‘scaffolding’ and supporting structures that help tumours grow, resist treatment and spread to other parts of the body. 

Using groundbreaking mass spectrometry technology, researchers will be able to watch in unprecedented detail how this neighbourhood or the tumour microenvironment (TME) changes during chemotherapy or immunotherapy. These insights will reveal exactly why some pancreatic, breast, prostate and lung cancers become resistant or metastasise, and why secondary tumours often behave differently from the original cancer. 

The discoveries made at the ACRF MATRIX Centre will drive the development of powerful new combination therapies that attack both cancer cells and their protective environment at the same time, offering fresh hope to patients with some of the hardest-to-treat solid tumours. 

CEO of ACRF, Kerry Strydom, said the grant reflects ACRF’s commitment to backing bold ideas that can change the future for cancer patients.  

“The ACRF MATRIX Centre will give Australian researchers a capability that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country. For the first time in Australia, we’ll be able to see the hidden world that allows cancer to resist treatment. It has the potential to deliver breakthroughs that could ultimately save thousands of lives.” 

Professor Thomas Cox of The Garvan Institute said, “Cancer cells don't exist in isolation, they build a protective neighbourhood that helps them survive our treatments and spread through the body. The ACRF MATRIX Centre will give us an unprecedented molecular-resolution view of this tumour microenvironment, revealing exactly how it evolves during therapy. These insights will help drive the next generation of smarter combination treatments that target both the cancer cells and their supporting structures simultaneously.” 

Additional funding for resourcing the ACRF Matrix Centre has been committed by Cancer Institute NSW ($100,000 per year for five years) and Amgen ($100,000 per year for three years). 

The new centre is expected to open in 2026 and will be a national resource for cancer researchers. For more information visit acrf.com.au