In 2017, Mrs Pamela Galli AO made a significant gift to the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences to establish The Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Medical Research Trust.
The Trust supports collaborative research programs across the Parkville medical precinct in the areas of cancer and developmental disorders and enables a unique partnership between the University of Melbourne, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the WEHI, the Royal Children's Hospital and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.
Mrs Galli’s extraordinary philanthropic support of medical research was inspired by her late husband Lorenzo and the specialist care he received during his treatment for skin cancer and a blood related cancer.
This extraordinary gift follows the success of three professorial chairs Mrs Galli established at the University of Melbourne since 2012 to lead the research programs supported by the Trust:
- Professor David Amor, The Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Developmental Medicine
- Professor Ken Smith, The Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Medical Biology
- Professor Grant McArthur, The Lorenzo Galli Chair in Melanoma and Skin Cancers
Professor Ken Smith was announced as the new Chair in Medical Biology in April 2024, following on from outgoing Director of WEHI and inaugural Chair in Medical Biology, Professor Doug Hilton AO.
In November 2024, a new $20 million donation was announced to an audience of researchers and institute partners at the Galli Research Symposium at the University of Melbourne.
The new donation continues the impact of the Pamela and Lorenzo Galli Medical Research Trust and enables new areas of investigation and research collaboration between the University and partner organisations.
Attendees at the Inaugural Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Research Symposium, November 2024.
Research programs supported by the Trust
Under the leadership of the three Galli Chairs, Professor Grant McArthur, Professor David Amor and Professor Ken Smith, researchers from the University of Melbourne, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the Royal Children’s Hospital are collaborating on three key projects that will impact developmental disorders and cancer.
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Aim: To generate new evidence about the causes of neurodevelopmental disabilities and determine whether new and existing therapies are effective in improving outcomes and quality of life for these children and their families.
Collaborators: The Royal Children’s Hospital and the University of Melbourne -
Aim: To improve the quality of life for children and their families through the identification of new treatments for patients with a wider spectrum of genetic causes of brain developmental disorders.
Collaborators: The Royal Children’s Hospital, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the University of Melbourne -
Aim: To use state-of-the-art genomics and computational research methods to understand how cancer cells evolve, adapt and influence response to therapy at the single cell level.
Collaborators: The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the University of Melbourne.
In partnership with
Discovery of new treatments for brain development disorders
We anticipate that through this program of research, more children with intellectual disability will receive targeted treatment to enhance their brain development. By building capacity in registries, data science, clinical trials and implementation science, we will be in a position to generate new evidence about the cause, prevention and best treatment for neurodevelopment disability.
Improving outcomes and quality of life for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities
Intellectual disability occurs in 2-3% of newborn babies and results in a lifetime of dependency. Traditionally, intellectual disability has been viewed as an untreatable condition, but we are now investigating whether there may be ways to prevent or ameliorate such disability through cellular interventions.
Next generation cancer discoveries initiative
Cancers are characterised by a complex mixture of cells including cancer cells that differ from each other plus non-cancer cells such as immune cells. Technology has now emerged to allow single-cell gene sequencing and expression analysis. We apply computational methods to understand the resulting complex data, which is critical to improving response to treatment and defeating cancer growth.
Professor Grant McArthur
Lorenzo Galli Chair in Melanoma and Skin Cancers, 2014
Professor Grant McArthur is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and holds a Ph.D. in Medical Biology. He is the Executive Director of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) and is a Senior Principal Research Fellow (NHMRC). He is also Head of the Molecular Oncology Laboratory and of the Cancer Therapeutics Program, Cancer Research, and a Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist, Cancer Medicine at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
In 2014, Professor McArthur was named the inaugural Lorenzo Galli Chair in Melanoma and Skin Cancers at the University of Melbourne. His research areas include discovery of novel drug targets in cancer, targeting oncogenes, immunological effect of targeted therapies, clinical trials of targeted therapeutics, personalised medicine, melanoma, cell cycle control, metabolism and protein synthesis in cancer.
Professor McArthur was the inaugural winner of the Translational Research Award of the Foundation Nelia et Amadeo Barletta and has held the Sir Edward Dunlop Clinical Cancer Research Fellowship of the Cancer Council of Victoria. He was the recipient of the inaugural Martin Lackmann medal for translational research, received the Medical Oncology Group of Australia’s Novartis Oncology Cancer Achievement Award and just recently, was the recipient of the prestigious Tom Reeve Award from Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) for 2018. He is a national and international study co-chair of a number of clinical trials of targeted therapies.
Professor David Amor
Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Developmental Medicine, 2016
Professor David Amor is a consultant clinical geneticist and clinician scientist with a research focus on human genetics. He completed RACP training in paediatrics and clinical genetics in 2000 before undertaking PhD studies in chromosome biology completed in 2004. Since 2005 he has worked as a consultant clinical geneticist at the Victorian Clinical Genetics Service (VCGS) and as a Research Group Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. From 2009 to 2016 he was Director of Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, the main provider of clinical and laboratory genetic services across Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
In 2016, Professor Amor was named the inaugural Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Developmental Medicine in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne. Professor Amor works in partnership with the APEX Australia Chair of Developmental Medicine to provide a focus for research into causation of developmental problems within children across the University, the Royal Children's Hospital and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Professor Amor has published more than 175 papers on a range of human genetic and medical genetic subjects. He is a co-author of the 5th edition of the reference text Chromosome Abnormalities and Genetic Counselling (Gardner RJM and Amor DJ, 2017) published by Oxford University Press. Over the last ten years he has been a Chief Investigator on more than $20 million worth of research grants, and currently holds three Project Grants and two Centre for Research Excellence Grants from NHMRC.
Professor Doug Hilton
Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Medical Biology, 2017
Professor Doug Hilton is the Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Head of the Department of Medical Biology at the University of Melbourne, and a member of the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board (AMRAB).
In 2017, Professor Hilton was named the inaugural Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Medical Biology at WEHI and the University of Melbourne.
He is best known for his discoveries in the area of cytokine signalling, his advocacy for health and medical research, and for gender equity in science. As head of the Molecular Medicine division at WEHI, Professor Hilton’s lab aims to understand which of the 30,000 genes are important in the production and function of blood cells, and how this information can be used to better prevent, diagnose and treat blood cell diseases such as leukaemia, arthritis and asthma.
Professor Hilton has been awarded numerous prizes for his research into how blood cells communicate and has led major collaborations with industry to translate his discoveries from the bench to the bedside. He is an inventor of more than 20 patent families, most of which have been licensed, and is a co-founder of the biotechnology company MuriGen.
Associate Professor Adrienne Harvey
Galli Senior Research Fellow
Associate Professor Adrienne Harvey is a Senior Research Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and a Paediatric Physiotherapist with over 25 years of clinical research and education experience. She spent most of her previous clinical and research working life within the physiotherapy department and gait laboratory of the Royal Children's Hospital.
She completed a Masters of Physiotherapy by Coursework (Paediatrics) in 1998 and a PhD in 2008 through the University of Melbourne. Her PhD thesis examined functional mobility in children with cerebral palsy.
In 2008, Professor Harvey secured a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, McMaster University, Canada. She currently works in Neurodisability and Rehabilitation on a range of research activities at the MCRI and is a lecturer in paediatrics at Monash University.
She has lectured nationally and internationally and is one of the key developers for an online paediatric physiotherapy education package currently running through Monash University.
Dr Timothy Semple
Galli Research Fellow
Tim Semple is an experienced molecular biologist who specializes in genomics and single cell technologies. He has expert knowledge of and a high level of experience working with DNA and RNA sequencing methodologies. As part of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre’s Molecular Genomics team Tim has developed methods, contributed research projects and provided support to research staff and students.
Tim’s passion for method development and working with new and emerging technologies has seen him partner with the University of Melbourne’s Single Cell Innovation Lab to facilitate and promote the uptake of single cell sequencing by researchers within the VCCC and broader precinct.
Dr Daisy Shepherd
Galli Research Fellow
Dr Daisy Shepherd is a post-doctoral biostatistician at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. She completed her PhD at the University of Auckland in 2019, researching and developing goodness-of-fit methods for phylogenetic models.
At present, Daisy’s research focuses on modern approaches to causal inference, with a emphasis on the development and implementation of these methods in the context of EMR data and observational studies. Daisy also provides statistical support for the Neurodisability and Rehabilitation Group, researching the aetiology and management of neurodevelopment disabilities.
Dr Stefano Mangiola
Galli Research Fellow
Dr Mangiola is currently a Postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Tony Papenfuss. He has extensive research experience in computational biology, statistics and cancer biology, and a good knowledge of cell biology.
His research is mainly focused on investigating the cellular and molecular interactions between cancer and benign cells in the tumor microenvironment. The active clinical areas of research are prostate, breast cancer and melanoma. Investigations have been carried out by Dr. Mangiola both by experimental procedures, data analysis (e.g., bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing), and inference methods from public data.
Learn more about the impactful research being supported by the Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Medical Research Trust.
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Professor Alicia Oshlack
Read about how Alicia is using innovative genome-wide technologies to detect cancer-causing mutations.
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Maria Bergamasco
Learn about how the Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Medical Research Trust is supporting the work of PhD student Maria Bergamasco.
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Dr Hannah Vanyai
Read about how Dr Hannah Vanyai is using dietary supplementation to support the health brain development of children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Dr Jordan Wright
Find out how Jordan's research could pave the way towards exciting new treatments for epigenetic-related neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Professor Grant McArthur AO
With advances in precision medicine, personalised therapies and the possibility of a vaccine, surviving melanoma is no longer a pipe dream. 14 years after she was told her original cancer had metastasised, Wamba Wamba woman, Melissa Sheldon, can now see that the timing was fortunate.
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Associate Professor Erich Rutz
New orthopaedic surgical techniques and interventions are giving children living with cerebral palsy the chance to stand, walk, jump and run – dependent on their pre-existing level of disability.
Galli Senior Research Fellowships and Bob Dickens Senior Research Fellowships
Objective
Galli Senior Fellowships and Bob Dickens Senior Fellowships are intended to support outstanding postdoctoral researchers to conduct research aligned with the Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Medical Research Trust and the Pamela Galli and Bob Dickens Paediatric Orthopaedic Research Trust.
Fellowships are aimed at researchers with 5 to 15 years postdoctoral experience, taking into consideration career interruptions. It is expected that applicants would not already be established lab heads/program leaders, but have potential to develop that capability during the fellowship. Applicants do not need to be currently associated with a Galli program to apply, however applicants must seek support and endorsement from the relevant Galli Chair or Bob Dickens Chair prior to commencing an application.
Chairs
Professor David Amor, The Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Developmental Medicine
Professor Ken Smith, The Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Medical Biology
Professor Grant McArthur, The Lorenzo Galli Chair in Melanoma and Skin Cancers
Associate Professor Erich Rutz, The Bob Dickens Chair for Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgery
Contact
Please contact mdhs-grants@unimelb.edu.au for any questions.