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Ms Kate Gunther

Research Associate
Medicine & Health
AERI

Dr Kate Gunther is a postdoctoral researcher at the Ainsworth Endometriosis Research Institute (AERI), UNSW Sydney, specialising in endometriosis biology, patient-derived models and translational therapeutic research. She completed her PhD in 2026 in the School of Clinical Medicine at UNSW Sydney, under the supervision of Professor Caroline Ford, Dr Dongli Liu and Professor Jason Abbott. Her doctoral research focused on developing precision models of endometriosis, including patient-derived organoids and drug repurposing strategies to support personalised medicine.

Prior to her PhD, Kate worked at the Children’s Cancer Institute, contributing to the ZERO Childhood Cancer Clinical Trial and the Sarcoma Biology team. Her experience in developing patient-derived cell models and evaluating therapeutic responses in preclinical cancer models provides a foundation for her current research. Kate is particularly interested in advancing personalised approaches to endometriosis management and addressing inequities in gynaecological healthcare, with the aim of improving research translation and outcomes for people living with endometriosis.
E-mail
k.gunther@unsw.edu.au
  • Journal articles | 2026
    Fordham AM; Brown LM; Mayoh C; Salib A; Barger ZA; Wong M; Lim Kam Sian TCC; Hu C; Xie J; Gunther K; Trebilcock P; Terry RL; Barahona P; Ajuyah P; Sherstyuk A; Avila A; Cadiz R; Perkins CM; Gifford AJ; Mao J; Dolman MEM; Zhao A; O’Regan LP; Gorgels D; Lau LMS; Ziegler DS; Haber M; Tyrrell V; Lock RB; Cowley MJ; Nicholls W; Daly RJ; Ekert PG; Fleuren EDG, 2026, 'Comprehensive Multiplatform Tyrosine Kinase Profiling Reveals Novel Actionable FGFR Aberrations across Sarcomas Affecting the Young', Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 25, pp. 1077 - 1094, http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.mct-25-0736
    Journal articles | 2026
    Gunther K; Liu D; Cortesi M; Powell E; Nesbitt-Hawes E; Abbott JA; Ford CE, 2026, 'Patient-derived epithelial cell organoids mimic the phenotypic complexity of endometriosis subtypes', Human Reproduction, 41, pp. 262 - 274, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deaf230
    Journal articles | 2026
    Jeffrey S; Adler H; Gunther K; Newman CE; Ferfolja T; Ng C; Armour M, 2026, 'Increasing Gender Affirming Content in the Australian Gynaecology Curriculum: A Commentary', Women S Reproductive Health, 13, pp. 276 - 291, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2025.2508978
    Journal articles | 2025
    Gunther K; Fisher T; Liu D; Abbott J; Ford CE, 2025, 'Endometriosis is not the endometrium: Reviewing the over-representation of eutopic endometrium in endometriosis research', , 14, pp. e103825, http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.103825
    Journal articles | 2025
    Gunther K; Liu D; Stannard G; Holmes M; Loo C; Guo B; Bowden N; Abbott J; Ford CE, 2025, 'An integrated multimodal approach to drug repurposing in endometriosis, using ROR1 as a target', Frontiers in Pharmacology, 16, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2025.1716062
    Journal articles | 2024
    Alonso A; Gunther K; Maheux-Lacroix S; Abbott J, 2024, 'Medical management of endometriosis', Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 36, pp. 353 - 361, http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/GCO.0000000000000983
    Journal articles | 2023
    Mayoh C; Mao J; Xie J; Tax G; Chow SO; Cadiz R; Pazaky K; Barahona P; Ajuyah P; Trebilcock P; Malquori A; Gunther K; Avila A; Yun DY; Alfred S; Gopalakrishnan A; Kamili A; Wong M; Cowley MJ; Jessop S; Lau LMS; Trahair TN; Ziegler DS; Fletcher JI; Gifford AJ; Tsoli M; Marshall GM; Haber M; Tyrrell V; Failes TW; Arndt GM; Lock RB; Ekert PG; M Dolman ME; Wong-Erasmus M; Ajuyah P, 2023, 'High-Throughput Drug Screening of Primary Tumor Cells Identifies Therapeutic Strategies for Treating Children with High-Risk Cancer', Cancer Research, 83, pp. 2716 - 2732, http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-3702
    Journal articles | 2022
    Liu D; Gunther K; Enriquez LA; Daniels B; O’Mara TA; Tang K; Spurdle AB; Ford CE, 2022, 'Author Correction: ROR1 is upregulated in endometrial cancer and represents a novel therapeutic target (Scientific Reports, (2020), 10, 1, (13906), 10.1038/s41598-020-70924-z)', Scientific Reports, 12, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15043-7
    Journal articles | 2020
    Liu D; Gunther K; Enriquez LA; Daniels B; O’Mara TA; Tang K; Spurdle AB; Ford CE, 2020, 'ROR1 is upregulated in endometrial cancer and represents a novel therapeutic target', Scientific Reports, 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70924-z
    Journal articles | 2019
    Werner B; Yuwono NL; Henry C; Gunther K; Rapkins RW; Ford CE; Warton K, 2019, 'Circulating cell-free DNA from plasma undergoes less fragmentation during bisulfite treatment than genomic DNA due to low molecular weight', Plos One, 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224338
  • Conference Presentations | 2026
    Gunther K, 2026, 'Clinical Heterogeneity Seen Surgically is Reflected at a Cellular Level Using Single-Cell Spatial Maps of Endometriosis', presented at Australasian Gynaecological Endoscopy and Surgery Annual Scientific Meeting 2026, Auckland, New Zealand, 12 March 2026 - 14 March 2026
    Theses / Dissertations | 2026
    Gunther K, 2026, Towards Personalised Medicine in Endometriosis: Creating Clinically Defined and Phenotype-Specific Models of Endometriosis, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/32159
    Conference Posters | 2025
    Gunther K, 2025, 'The potential of ROR1 as a novel therapeutic target for endometriosis', Sydney, Australia, presented at 16th World Congress on Endometriosis, Sydney, Australia, 21 May 2025 - 24 May 2025
    Conference Papers | 2024
    Barger Z; Fordham A; Mao J; Brown L; Perkins C; Gunther K; Paul E; Fleuren E, 2024, 'ZERO and beyond: Establishment, Characterisation, and Utilisation of Nine Novel Patient-Derived Osteosarcoma Cell Lines', Sydney, Australia, presented at ZERO Childhood Cancer National Symposium “Precision in Action: Collaboration Driving Cancer Breakthroughs", Sydney, Australia, 08 May 2024
    Conference Posters | 2023
    Gunther K, 2023, 'Guiding precision medicine research in endometriosis and adenomyosis via a clinically informed tissue microarray', Edinburgh, Scotland, presented at 15th World Congress on Endometriosis, Edinburgh, Scotland, 03 May 2023 - 06 May 2023
    Conference Papers | 2022
    Barger Z; Fordham A; Perkins C; Gunther K; Ekert P; Fleuren E, 2022, 'Optimisation of functional in vitro patient-derived osteosarcoma cell culture models', Sydney, presented at Children’s Cancer Institute - Research Symposium 2022, Sydney, 06 December 2022
    Conference Papers | 2021
    Fordham A; Brown L; Mayoh C; Wong M; Barger Z; Xie J; Gunther K; Trebilcock P; Lim Kam Sian T; Lock R; Daly R; Cowley M; Ekert P; Fleuren E, 2021, 'Multi-platform tyrosine kinase profiling reveals novel molecular response signatures to FGFR-inhibitors in paediatric and AYA sarcoma.', Virtual, presented at The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) 2021, Virtual, 10 June 2021
    Conference Abstracts | 2020
    Liu D; Gunther K; Daniels B; O'Mara T; Tang K; Ford C, 2020, 'Abstract 2942: ROR1: A novel target in endometrial cancer', in Cancer Research, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Vol. 80, pp. 2942 - 2942, http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.am2020-2942

2023 - Endometriosis Australia - Genomics and spatial transciptomics of diverse endometriosis types to understand biology

2022 - UNSW Women's Wellbeing Academy - Beyond women's health: recognising gender diversity in gynaecological research

2025 - National Endometriosis Clinical and Scientific Trials (NECST) PhD Fellowship