Professor Thomas Cox

The labs creative research program integrates matrix biology with precision oncology, aligning with Garvan’s strategic vision to make fundamental advances in the understanding, treatment and prevention of human disease, in this case, personalised stromal targeting in solid tumours.

The goals of the team are to develop, deploy and repurpose anti-stromal/anti-fibrotic therapies for cancer treatment, and maximise the effectiveness of pre-clinical cancer models through the following parallel, complementary research streams:

(1) Expanding the repertoire of anti-cancer therapeutic targets to include matrix molecules and their effectors, critical component of all solid tumours, and drive forward our already established pipeline of anti-ECM drugs.

(2) Continue to develop and utilise powerful, state-of-the-art, physiologically relevant in vitro and in vivo 3D models that include native ECM to assay and streamline the evaluation of novel and existing therapies.

(3) Reshape the way we view the matrix, as an active contributor to cancer, not just a passive bystander, and leverage this to better stratify cancer patients for personalised stromal targeting in solid tumours.