September 24, 2024

PhD candidate ‘cooking’ brain cancer with magnets

Emerging research could target tumours while preserving healthy cells

Alice O’Keefe’s fascination with science began with magnets. As a child, she loved experimenting with them, seeing which objects they attracted and which objects they repelled.

That fascination has continued throughout her life, and now, the University of Wollongong (UOW) PhD candidate jokes that she has found a way to play with magnets as an adult.

Part of the Targeted Nanotherapies Team in the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics, Alice is an emerging cancer researcher whose PhD is focused on using magnets to treat brain cancer.

It is deeply complex research, but Alice has a talent for breaking down complicated science in a way that is easy for everyone to understand. It is this talent that has seen her named the NSW/Queensland finalist in the upcoming Fame Lab Australia Awards.

FameLab, hosted in Australia by the Foundation for the WA Museum, is the largest public-facing science communication training program and competition in the world.

Alice said her research aims to develop a way to treat inoperable brain tumours without taking the scorched earth approach.

“Brain cancer is one of the scariest cancers to be diagnosed with, because it is in such a delicate area of the body,” Alice said. “The brain can’t repair itself and there is also a risk with treatment that it can result in memory loss, impaired cognitive function or it can damage the parts of the brain that really make up someone’s personality.

“The other risk factors with all cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation are that we often damage healthy cells in a bid to get rid of the cancerous cells. It is hard to separate those two things out.”

With that in mind, Alice has been focused on how to use magnets to ‘cook’ brain cancer from the inside out, without damaging the healthy tissue.

She has developed nano-sized particles, akin to tiny crystals, which are injected into the site of the brain tumour. The particles act like bar magnets and are gobbled up by tumours, which love glucose.

When the particles are exposed to a magnetic field, they start to move and heat up. Tumours can’t cope with heat, so as they heat up, the particles become hot enough to damage or kill the cancerous cells, without impacting the healthy tissue. 

Once they reach a certain temperature, the particles switch off and start to cool down. The scientists can then repeat the process, hopefully reduce or entirely removing the cancer.

Alice stresses that the research it in its infancy, but she is excited about its possibilities in the future.

The positives, Alice says, are the ability to target the tumour in a way that traditional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can’t, while minimising the impact on healthy brain tissue.

Alice’s flair for science communication is driven by a desire to break down the barriers that typically surrounds many areas of research.

She also just genuinely loves science and loves communicating that to the world.

“I am really passionate about science outreach. It really helps the community to understand what is going on in the world of science. For me, being able to articulate science also helps me to understand it better.

“Cancer research is such a noble pursuit. I feel so lucky to be able to work with the Targeted Nano-Therapies team, led by Associate Professor Moeava Tehei, to have the space and time to explore research that really interests me and to work out what I am best at.

“I have always loved science. My formative memories are of playing with magnets when I was a child, so the idea that I can use magnets to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients is deeply rewarding.”

Alice will take part in the FameLab Australian finals at the end of September, with the finalists given just three minutes to communicate their science research to the audience. They are judged on FameLab’s Three Cs: content, clarity, and charisma.

If she wins, Alice will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the world-renowned Cheltenham Science Festival in the United Kingdom next year, an opportunity to meet with some of the best scientists in the world. 

The FameLab Australia National Final will be live streamed via on Thursday, 26 September from 8pm AEST https://perthvideo.net/famelab-2024