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ACRF Telomere Analysis Centre

  • Research Institute: Children’s Medical Research Institute

  • Amount granted: $2 million

  • Year granted: 2013

The ACRF awarded the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Sydney $2 million in funding to develop a cutting-edge ACRF Telomere Analysis Centre. This facility allows an internationally unique consortium of telomere research groups to better understand the differences in telomere biology between normal and cancerous cells.

Telomeres are stretches of DNA at the end of our chromosomes – they protect our genetic data, make it possible for cells to divide, and influence how we get diseases such as cancer. Research into telomeres is relatively new in the field of cancer science, but it offers the potential for a broad-spectrum approach to anti-cancer drugs.

The new ACRF centre facilitates the design and development of these therapies, which, in targeting telomere mutations or dysfunction, could provide a treatment solution to many or all types of cancer.

This centre has become the national telomere testing centre for both clinical and diagnostic purposes.

It is the second research grant the ACRF has awarded to the Children’s Medical Research Institute, Australia.

Chief Investigators: Professors Roger Reddel, Assoc. Professor Tracy Bryan, Dr Karen MacKenzie, Dr Hilda Pickett, Dr Tony Cesare, Loretta Lau, Dr Julie Curtin

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