Research at Centenary

Cancer

Cancer is a collection of related diseases in which a cell in our body begins to grow uncontrollably. Cancers may form a lump (or tumour) or be in our blood. We make a powerful contribution to improving the treatment and diagnostics for cancers of both these types. In particular for tumours, we work on altering the blood supply and prohibiting the spread of cancerous cells, as well as understanding the role of energy-usage (or metabolism) in some of the most untreatable cancer forms.

The advent of cell-mediated therapies, which have the advantage of specifically targeting one form of cancer, has been a chief interest of the Institute and is rapidly expanding across all cancer types.

Pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, endometrial cancer, melanoma and liver cancer are just some of the cancers that we are currently researching in order to find new treatments and cures.

Inflammation

Inflammation is the mechanism by which the body fights infections, but also is increasingly being found to play crucial roles in the development of most major diseases, including Alzheimer’s, stroke, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, respiratory diseases including asthma, COPD/emphysema, smoke exposure, pulmonary fibrosis (IPF and cystic fibrosis) and infections including tuberculosis, influenza and COVID-19.

Our belief is that understanding inflammation is the key to unlocking a new era of treatments and cures for many of the deadliest and prominent diseases affecting humanity. The Centenary Institute is at the forefront of this life-saving medical research.

Cardiovascular

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a collective term for diseases of the heart and blood vessels. The term commonly includes diseases such as coronary artery disease, heart failure, genetic heart diseases such as cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, stroke, and sudden cardiac death in the young.

There is still much that our research can learn about CVD. It is one of the major problems facing Australian families and communities and is currently the leading cause of death. One in 3 Australians are reported to suffer from some form of heart disease and CVD kills one Australian every 12 minutes