Congratulations Mike!
Associate Professor Michael Hay, Auckland Cancer Research Centre was awarded a MBIE 2021 Catalyst: Strategic New Zealand – Republic of Korea Joint Research Partnerships programme. The New Zealand – Korea Joint Research Partnerships Programme is a triennial funding programme that facilitates bilateral science, research, and innovation collaborations between New Zealand and Korean researchers. The project is titled, ‘Development of novel sensitisers for ultra-high dose rate FLASH radiotherapy’.
Radiation therapy is widely used for cancer treatment. There is a continual drive to increase the efficacy and reduce normal tissue side effects of radiation therapy. A new experimental technology that delivers ultra-high dose rate radiation therapy (FLASH-RT) reduces normal tissue toxicity for a standard dose of radiotherapy, but how it does this is unknown.
This international collaboration between Associate Professor Michael Hay’s group in the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre (ACSRC) at the University of Auckland and Associate Professor G-One Ahn’s group at Seoul National University will explore the combination of novel radiosensitisers, developed at the ACSRC, with FLASH-RT to see if they can unravel the mechanisms behind the normal tissue sparing effects. They will also determine if the sensitisers can increase the efficacy of FLASH-RT against hypoxic tumour cells. This research will co-develop exciting new technologies with the potential to transform radiation therapy.