University of Sydney awarded $1.8m ACRF grant to build Australia’s first single-cell cancer proteomics laboratory

Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ARCF) has announced the University of Sydney as the recipient of a $1.8 million grant to establish the ACRF Single Cell Cancer Proteomics Laboratory, the first facility of its kind in Australia. 

The ACRF Single Cell Cancer Proteomics Laboratory will be Australia’s first dedicated single-cell cancer proteomics laboratory, establishing a national platform and enabling researchers around the country to unlock unprecedented insights into how individual cancer and immune cells behave and respond to treatment. 

Until now, researchers have studied cancer by looking at many thousands of cells at once. This revolutionary new laboratory will allow scientists to examine the proteins inside individual cancer cells, and the other normal cells around them. This will provide a deeper insight into why some patients with melanoma, prostate, breast or blood cancers respond to treatment while others don’t, and why powerful CAR T-cell immunotherapy fails in certain people. 

Acting like a super-bright spotlight in the dark, the technology will uncover hidden differences between one cell and the next, helping doctors choose the very best personalised treatment for each patient, and opening entirely new ways to attack cancer. 

The national platform will be hosted by Sydney Mass Spectrometry, a Core Research Facility at the University of Sydney. The facility will be available to researchers across Australia and is expected to accelerate discoveries that benefit patients worldwide. 

Associate Professor Mark Larance from the University of Sydney said: “This unique platform will generate cellular maps of cancer and cell-based therapeutics, which can be used to guide patient treatment not possible before.” 

Australian Cancer Research Foundation CEO, Kerry Strydom, said ACRF is proud to back this impactful research which has the potential to reshape cancer treatment. 

“The ACRF Single Cell Cancer Proteomics Laboratory will give Australian researchers a new capability and put us at the forefront of precision cancer medicine. This lab has the potential to amplify precision medicine around the world.” 

“For the first time, we’ll be able to see cancer at the single-cell level in a way that has never been possible in Australia. This will transform our fundamental understanding of treatment resistance and enable more personalised medicine in the future.” 

Additional funding of $100,000 per year for five years has been committed by Cancer Institute NSW. The new laboratory is expected to open in 2026. For more information visit acrf.com.au