For two consecutive years, this has been awarded to postdoctoral fellows from the same research lab in the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research (PGJCCR).

Dr Raheleh Amirkhah was named winner in 2023 for her work published in Nature Communications and Dr Sudhir Malla took the 2024 prize for his work published in Nature Genetics. The prestigious nature of both journals underscores the exceptional quality and impact of research being conducted at PGJCCR.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) poses a significant global health challenge, with 1.9 million people diagnosed annually. In the era of personalised medicine, a major international goal is to stratify patients for tailored treatments based on tumour biology. Dr Amirkhah’s innovative prizewinning research focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying early-stage CRC development.

“Receiving the JD Williamson Prize is a profound honour,” said Dr Amirkhah. “It highlights not just my efforts but our team's commitment to advancing cancer research. This recognition fuels my passion, and I am deeply grateful for the collaborative environment that has driven our progress in understanding colorectal cancer.”

Dr Amirkhah’s work employs advanced techniques in molecular biology, preclinical modelling and computational biology. Her research aims to identify therapeutic targets involved in early cancer development and has the potential to pave the way for new, more effective treatments, thereby improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

Dr Malla’s pioneering work focuses on delivering new understanding of the biology underpinning colorectal tumours that are already established.

He developed a new classification system, termed ‘Pathway-Derived Subtype’ (PDS1-3), which leverages next generation sequencing data to identify patients that can benefit from more personalised disease management plan. Dr Malla’s work identified a novel subset of CRC with a higher chance of recurrence if treated with standard-of-care chemotherapy. These findings advanced our molecular understanding of CRC and, importantly, revealed a way to identify patients that require alternative treatments.

“This award serves as a testament to the collaborative spirit of our team,” said Dr Malla. “While the journey of biological discovery is challenging, this project is an example of how incredibly rewarding the process can be. I hope our findings can contribute meaningfully to improving patient care in the future.”

These consecutive JD Williamson Prizes highlight a vibrant culture of excellence and innovative research within Dr Philip Dunne’s team. The group have established a collaborative environment where scientists from diverse research backgrounds work together to address some of the most pressing health challenges of our time, a formula that cultivates groundbreaking research while providing invaluable training for the next generation of medical researchers.

The recognition of Dr Amirkhah and Dr Malla further serves to highlight the leading role of computational biologists in developing new understanding of disease and directing the generation of new approaches to address health inequities. With increasing global health challenges, hybrid research linking the wet-lab experiments with the dry-lab data analyses is fundamental in developing innovative solutions, as demonstrated by these two consecutive awards to two outstanding computational scientists.