Researcher biography

Vanessa Bonazzi is a Research Fellow within the Surgical Oncology group headed by Professor Andrew Barbour.

Vanessa is highly experienced in the molecular study of cancer risk factors, cancer genomics and cancer cell biology. She achieved her PhD in Oncogenomics at the Institut Curie in Paris. She moved to the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, where she focused on elucidating the genetic changes driving melanoma progression and resistance to treatment. She specialised in understanding the impact of epigenetics, methylation and miRNA expression during melanomagenesis. In 2015, Vanessa joined the Translational Research Institute where she developed patient derived xenograft mice models of endometrial cancer. She focused on evaluating the efficacy of combination therapies by repurposing approved chemotherapies and targeted therapies for endometrial cancer.

Since 2018, Vanessa has coordinated the Cancer Evolution Biobank which collects samples from patients with melanoma, oesophageal/gastric cancer and pancreatic cancer. Her current research focuses on developing blood biomarkers for predicting therapy response and survival. Overall, she contributes to the development of precision medicine to inform treatment decisions and improve health outcomes for patients with melanoma, oesophago-gastric cancer and pancreatic cancer.

Research Interests

  • Unravelling the molecular mechanisms and genetic aberrations associated with Melanoma, Oesophageao-gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer.
  • Develop National Biobanking
  • Move from a one-treatment-fit-all system to a precision medicine approach
    • Integrate genomics into the clinic
    • Blood biomarker
    • Improve patient outcome