2023 Cannon Family Travel Grant Update | Dr Patrick Connerty

The Cannon Family Travel Grants provide Australian blood cancer researchers with the opportunity to broaden their knowledge, exchange ideas, establish collaborations, and bring back valuable insights that can contribute to the advancement of blood cancer research in Australia.

One of the 2023 Cannon Family Travel Grant awardees, Dr Patrick Connerty, recently returned from the 36th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics and has shared the amazing knowledge, ideas and inspiration he acquired at the symposium.

This international event brought together over 1,200 participants from 41 countries including academics, scientists, and industry leaders to explore the latest advancements in drug development, target selection, and molecular biology.

For Dr Connerty, a standout session from the symposium was a keynote presentation by Dr Jennifer Wargo from the MD Anderson Cancer Centre who discussed the role of the microbiome in cancer. The session was particularly relevant to Dr Connerty’s research, leaving him with several actionable strategies he can use to improve and refine his work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Leukaemia Biology group at the Children’s Cancer Institute in Sydney.

Emphasising the importance of the microbiome, Dr Connerty said, “the emerging research suggests that the microbiome may significantly influence cancer progression and treatment responses, potentially making it a crucial component of future therapeutic strategies. This perspective has opened my eyes to an additional layer of complexity to cancer treatment which we have never addressed in our research”.

Amongst many other learnings from the conference, Dr Connerty was inspired by a presentation highlighting the importance of creative problem-solving in overcoming laboratory challenges, a lesson that has encouraged him to think more innovatively about tackling obstacles in his research. Overall, Dr Connerty shared that his attendance at the conference was immensely impactful, saying “it not only validated [his] current research strategies but also provided fresh insights and inspiration, driving [him] to push forward with even greater confidence and vision for [his] research program”.

Snowdome would like to thank the Cannon family for their continued contribution to the advancement of blood cancer research in Australia.