Medical advances have led to significant improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of blood cancer, but rates of this disease continue to rise. A/Prof Piers Blombery shares how the team at the Wilson Centre for Blood Cancer Genomics is leading the charge in blood cancer genomics – by scaling innovation, empowering experts and transforming patient care.
A/Prof Blombery runs the Wilson Centre for Blood Cancer Genomics, a translational diagnostics research program supported by the Wilson Family Trust and Snowdome Foundation. The centre focuses on implementation of new diagnostic technologies including circulating tumour DNA, targeted therapy resistance and genomic interrogation of bone marrow failure and involves multiple national and international collaborators.
A/Prof Blombery completed dual fellowship training in clinical and laboratory haematology and travelled to the UK to complete his training at University College Hospital London (UCLH). He then worked as a consultant haematologist at UCLH, after completing his specialty training. He returned to Melbourne as a haematologist in the aggressive lymphoma tumour stream and to lead the molecular haematology service. He also runs the genetic haematology service at Peter Mac including an expanding clinical research program in inherited blood diseases that has included the Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance Bone Marrow Failure Flagship and more recently the MRV-funded EMBRACE and MRFF-funded IBMDx study for whole genome sequencing in these diseases.
A/Prof Blombery has completed a PhD from the University of Melbourne and has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and authored four book chapters. He is regularly invited to speak at national and international forums on genomics and molecular medicine as being chief/associate investigator on over $15 million of research funding over the past 5 years.
