Daniel Man-yeun Sze
Senior Research Fellow, Cancer Immunology Research Group
Qualifications
BSc MSc Bristol UK MMedSc Birmingham UK MEd Sydney PhD Birmingham
Contact Details
University of Sydney
Phone: +61 2 9351 2333
Fax: +61 2 9036 7097
Email:
Room 215
Building K06
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia
Research Interests
- immunotherapy using tumour-specific CD8+ T cells and high potency tumour-primed dendritic cells
- cancer-specific retargeted clinically approved NK cell line
- aboriginal and traditional Chinese herbal medicines anti-cancer
program - drug discovery targeting Cancer Stem Cells
- bioformatics for anti-cancer research
With the support of the Cancer Institute NSW Career development Fellowship from 2005 onwards, I have established the "Cancer Immunology Group" in the Faculty of Pharmacy. In addition, I have also been invited to be the Director (Cancer Research) of the Herbal Medicines Research and Education
Centre at the University of Sydney to initiate an evidence-based herbal Medicines anti-cancer program.
We have a long-term interest in a type of blood cancer- Multiple Myeloma (MM) that has been thoroughly investigated and reported in many peer-reviewed articles. This cancer is notoriously resistant to conventional chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation, and is incurable. However, the recently reported promising results with the immunomodulatory, anti-angiogenesis anti-cancer drug, Thalidomide, and the finding of clonal expansions of CD8+ T cells in MM in our laboratory suggest a possible role for immunotherapy in this refractory disease.
My goal over the next five years to use the MM as an useful cancer model to continue investigating the anti-MM immune response with a view to harnessing 'natural' anti-tumour T cell and anti-tumour NK cell immunity for treating MM in conjunction with conventional therapy including Thalidomide containing drug combinations. In addition, we aim to link what we have learnt and experienced in the Cancer Immunology research to the newly developed herbal Medicines anti-cancer program.
There are 5 main research objectives are:
- To work towards an evidence-based immunotherapy protocol for
multiple myeloma based on developments in our laboratories in the Institute of Haematology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, using a combination of tumour-specific CD8+ T cells and high potency tumour-primed dendritic cells. - To develop a novel potent myeloma immunotherapy agent through generation of a tumour-specific retargeted clinically approved NK cell line in collaboration with an experienced immunotherapy centre in Germany - Georg Speyer Haus Chemotherapeutisches Forscngsinstitut in Frankfurt Germany. Initially the approach will be to target myeloma-specific antigens, although the strategy may prove to be applicable to other types
of cancer as well. - To explore the use of both aboriginal and traditional Chinese herbal medicines targeting their multiple action pathways such as anti-angiogensis, immunomodulatory, induction of cancer cell apoptosis, and blocking the interaction of tumour cells with their microenvironment. This collaborative work is with Professor Basil Roufogalis, the Head of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney together with many other faculty members in the faculty of Pharmacy.
- To discover drugs that target the clinically important Cancer Stem Cells that cause relapse in patients.
- To complement the "wet laboratory research" with the powerful
bioinformatics approach, particularly in the areas of microarray and docking structures, with the above mentioned multi-faceted anti-cancer research.
In the Cancer Immunology group, we work as a cohesive team that composes of enthusiastic post-graduate students, knowledgeable research assistants and fellows, together with significant inputs from senior members of expert bioinformatician, computer scientists, molecular biologists, chemists, botanists, immunologists, pharmacologists, haematology specialists, and
other professionals.
The Faculty of Pharmacy at athe University of Sydney, together with the excellent flow cytometry in the Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine, can provide the necessary high-tech facilities and basic research infrastructure needed for this work. Such a scenario should be attractive to both local and international students. In terms of training opportunities for students, we offer research projects to Advanced students in Pharmacy, Honours projects for BSc, and Masters / PhD programs.
We welcome overseas research students to join our exciting anti-cancer research. I have supervisory research higher degree experiences in China and Hong Kong. At present, the Second Military Medical University in Shanghai China has awarded me with the title of Visiting Professorship.
I am also an Honorary Associate Professor at the Department of Pathology of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong. Both of these titles underpin collaborative cancer research programmes that I have initiated in these two institutions.
Further enquiry please