Chemotherapy with a side of poo thanks!

Like it or not, we are all crawling with life with over 100 trillion microorganisms calling our bodies home! Incredibly, we are more bug than human, with 1.3 times more microbes than human cells. Surprisingly, we have evolved to not only tolerate these microbes, but rely on them, with many bacteria, viruses and fungi carrying out roles that us mere humans cannot do alone. I have dedicated my research career to understanding how these microbes contribute to how people respond to cancer therapy, both in terms of how well their treatment kills cancer cells and how they determine the severity of side effects.

I will discuss how this new information is being used to i) tailor cancer treatment specifically for each individual person, ii) identify patients in need of extra support and iii) develop new therapies that help fight deadly complications of cancer treatment in both children and adults.

Bio

Dr Hannah Wardill is an early career researcher dedicated to ensuring people with cancer don’t just survive, but that they survive well! Since completing her PhD in 2016, Hannah has secured close to $1M to develop new methods of supporting gut health in people with cancer and predicting patient responses based on the bacteria found in their gut. Her efforts in pioneering the new field of oncogastroenterology have been widely recognised, with Hannah named the MASCC International Investigator of the Year, South Australian Young Achiever of the Year (Sci/Tech) and awarded the prestigious Qiagen Microbiome Award.

7:00pm @Maylands Hotel, 67 Phillis Street, Maylands 5069