Researchers such Dr Siok Tey are dedicated to driving rapid advancements in treatments, discovering new therapies, and launching innovative clinical trials.

Dr Tey is a leading Australian expert in bone marrow transplantation and cancer immunotherapy.

“I fell into research by accident; towards the end of my specialist training, I had a teenage patient with very problematic Hodgkin lymphoma,” said Dr Tey.

“Seeing how patients were struggling through the chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment is what inspired me to enter the field of immunotherapy, where the immune system is used to kill cancer cells instead.

“I wanted to help make this promising field a therapeutic reality for our patients.”

“I was very fortunate the Leukaemia Foundation awarded me a PhD scholarship, enabling me to focus on my research training and develop my career as an academic clinician.”

Dr Tey is a senior research fellow at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and a practising clinical haematologist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH).

Dr Tey’s current research focus is bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy.

“Bone marrow transplantation is a type of immunotherapy where the transplanted donor cells are very good at killing leukaemia cells.

“Unfortunately, these cells can also damage other organs, causing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).”

Dr Tey is currently part of part of a nationwide collaboration formed to tackle GVHD and improve bone marrow transplant outcomes.

Leukaemia Foundation has contributed $1million over five years to this effort which will have a huge impact for transplant recipients.