Melbourne cancer researcher Dr Marie-Liesse Asselin-Labat has an extra $25,000 to fund her ongoing research after winning the inaugural Lawrence Creative Prize from the Centenary Institute research foundation. She was an integral member of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) team that in 2006 made the ground-breaking discovery of breast stem cells, and her subsequent research led to the discovery of a cellular ‘link’ between female hormones and breast cancer development. Having established her own research laboratory at WEHI in the Stem Cells and Cancer division, she is now using that knowledge to focus on lung stem cells and their role in cancer.

The Lawrence Creative Prize recognises outstanding creativity in biomedical research undertaken by young scientists and was established to encourage the country’s best researchers to build their careers in Australia, rather than leave for overseas.

‘Exceptional young scientists can be hard to keep in Australia and we hope this award will not only celebrate their achievements but also encourage a domestic culture of brilliance in this truly important field,’ said Centenary Institute Executive Director Professor Matthew Vadas.

Applications were received from 33 early-career scientists in Australian universities and medical research institutes. Dr Asselin-Labat was one of three chosen finalists, alongside Greg Neely from Sydney’s Garvan Institute and fellow WEHI researcher Marc Pellegrini. Her prize win was announced in Sydney on 19 October and recognised her creative approach to her breast stem cell research and her willingness to apply knowledge from her previous research to a new field.

’When I came here seven years ago I was attracted to the science in Australia. It’s fantastic for young scientists to be given the chance to win an award like this and gives you the confidence to give your own creativity a go,’ she said after receiving the award. ‘The prize is an honour and a great boost for my confidence.’

The French-born researcher’s early interest in biology led to a pharmacy degree, then a Doctorate in molecular and cellular biology. She left France in 2004 to join Jane Visvader and Geoff Lindeman’s team at WEHI where she contributed to the breast stem cell discovery (published in Nature journal in 2006). As part of the team’s research, Asselin-Labat examined how breast stem cells contributed to breast cancer development, including any link between female hormones and the cells. She looked at how breast stem cells developed into normal breast tissue and how some cells were more likely to become aggressive cancer cells. Her ongoing research revealed that breast stem cells had no receptors for the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone, but were still highly sensitive to their effects and the findings went some way to explaining why there was considerable evidence linking sustained exposure to oestrogen and progesterone and increased risk of breast cancer.

Early in 2010 Asselin-Labat published this new research in Nature journal (showing that oestrogen and other steroids can control breast stem cell function) and her work earned her a 2010 L’Oreal Australia For Women in Science Fellowship worth $20,000. Drugs that exploit one of the pathways she identified in that research are now in clinical trials to help maintain bone strength and treat breast cancer that has spread to the bones.

In 2011 she established her own laboratory in the Stem Cells and Cancer division at WEHI where she changed her research focus to a new field – understanding the origins of lung cancers. Drawing on the techniques and knowledge developed in her breast cancer research, she is now looking at how lung stem cells are regulated and what drives tumour initiation.

‘Lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer and is very difficult to treat. We want to apply the knowledge we’ve acquired on breast cancer to the lung,’ she explained. ‘We suspect stem cells exist in the lung and we want to find them and see if they have a role in lung cancer.’

The Lawrence Creative Prize honours Neil Lawrence, the first Chair of The Centenary Institute Foundation set up by Lawrence and his wife Caroline. The Centenary Institute was established in 1985 to commemorate the centenaries of the University of Sydney Medical School and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and provide opportunities to co-operate on research and translating discoveries into clinical practice.

Images:  Marie-Liesse Asselin-Labat from The Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne (photos by Sam D’Agostino, SDP Photo)