Distinguished Professor Bruce Baguley retired on 13 Dec 2018 after more than 50 years of service to the University, to the Cancer Society Auckland-Northland, and to the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre (ACSRC) in the School of Medical Sciences.
Bruce gained his PhD in molecular biology at the University of Auckland, and after a two-year postdoc in the Ciba Research Laboratories in Basel he joined the Cancer Research Laboratory (forerunner of the ACSRC), in 1968, working initially in the Dept of Cell Biology (as it was called then). A decade later he re-located, with the rest of the Centre staff, to the Medical School, as a senior research fellow, and later, from 1981-2012, as director or as a co-director of the Centre.
The focus of his work has been to improve the clinical treatment of cancer through a deep understanding of the disease and utilising this knowledge to develop new drugs and see them into clinical trials, to improve the condition of people suffering from cancer. His work began with DNA binding agents, elaborating their mechanisms of action and shepherding the Centre’s first drugs amsacrine, asulacrine and DACA into clinical trials in Auckland. In the absence of a dedicated Phase I trial unit, this took a great deal of effort, but showed that it could be done effectively in New Zealand.
He also pioneered the development of a new class of cancer drug, the tumour vascular disrupting agents. These act indirectly on tumours through macrophages and vascular endothelial cells. The work culminated in worldwide Phase III trials of the Centre’s drug Vadimezan (DMXAA) by Novartis. While the trial results did not allow further progress, Vadimezan has more recently been of interest again as a tool for investing the function of the STING class of proteins.
Another major innovation was the development of early-passage human tumour cell lines obtained from patients (with their permission) at surgery and cultured under physiological oxygen conditions, to keep their biological characteristics as unperturbed as possible. This programme, after many years of extensive effort, has led to a resource of more than 200 cancer cell lines, particularly melanomas and gliomas, now widely used in fundamental molecular, genetic and cellular studies, and in assays for the development of new cancer drugs.
Bruce has very wide scientific interests, and has actively collaborated and published throughout his career with people across many disciplines, including chemists, clinicians, physicists and mathematicians. To date he has authored more than 450 scientific papers and 26 patents, and innumerable conference presentations. He has supervised more than 50 research students to completion of their degrees, and has been active in the teaching of cancer biology and therapy in the University. His expertise has been widely sought by both national and international organisations and committees, and he has given his time generously to them.
He has won many honours, including appointment as an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit. Three other honours represent key organisations in his academic life; the Sir Charles Hercus Medal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Sir Peter Gluckman Medal from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, and a Life Membership of the Cancer Society Auckland-Northland.
Bruce has always been a wise and deeply appreciated mentor, generous with his time, and a colleague with the highest ethical values. He has been critical to the long-term success of the Centre, and we look forward to his continuing involvement as an Emeritus Distinguished Professor.