Dr Sylvia Mahara receives US Department of Defense Fellowship

Dr Sylvia Mahara and Associate Professor Ron Fierstein.

Dr Sylvia Mahara, a postdoctoral researcher in the Centre for Cancer Research, has been awarded a US Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Cancer Horizon award.

The Horizon Award supports junior-level scientists to conduct impactful cancer research with the mentorship of an experienced cancer researcher.

Dr Mahara commenced as a Research Fellow in the Cancer Genetics and Functional Genomics research group under the guidance of Associate Professor Ron Firestein in September 2016.

She will be undertaking research to understand why certain genes that suppress tumours are ‘turned off’ in colon cancer, and figuring out how to switch these cancer-fighting genes on again.

“I am researching epigenetic regulation in colorectal cancer, or how genes are turned ‘on’ or ‘off’ due to disease, environmental and other factors, using CRISPR-cas9 technology and GFP-reporter cell lines,” Dr Mahara said.

“The genome editing CRISPR-cas9 technology enables us to modulate genes of interest at their transcriptional levels, turning them ‘on’ or ‘off’, and GFP-reporter cell lines are useful tools for monitoring cellular changes as a consequent of CRISPR-cas9 editing.

Dr Mahara will be working on a certain subset of colorectal cancer, known as the CpG Island Methylator Phenotype (CIMP+) subtype, which affects one in four colorectal cancer patients.

“Within this subtype, there are widespread epigenetics events that are dysregulated, particularly inactivation of major cancer-fighting genes. By restoring the function of these cancer-fighting genes, we can theoretically prevent the progression of disease,” she said.

“To prove this concept, we will use CRISPR-cas9 technology to turn ‘on’ the expression of some of these cancer-fighting genes to halt the progression of this subset of cancer, whilst identifying cancer-promoting genes using our newly-developed CRISPR pooled library construct.

“We hope to harness our findings into a ‘theragnostic’ (combination therapeutic and diagnostic) or a chemopreventive application in colorectal cancer patients.”

Dr Mahara wishes to thank A/Prof Firestein, Dr. Wishva Herath, Dr Mai Sarraj, Hudson Grants Officer, and James Chan from the Monash Grants Office for their assistance in applying for the award.