Moujalled group – Translational Leukaemia Therapeutics

Research

Our laboratory investigates the biological mechanisms that enable acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) cells to survive treatment and drive therapeutic resistance. By targeting key survival pathways that leukaemia cells rely on, including apoptosis and metabolism, we develop and evaluate rational combination therapy strategies designed to overcome therapeutic resistance. Our research has particular expertise in BH3 mimetics and biomarker-guided therapeutic development for children and adults with high-risk acute leukaemia.

Our laboratory combines clinically annotated patient samples with patient-derived xenograft (PDX) and humanised mouse models, functional genomics, single-cell technologies, advanced metabolic profiling and preclinical therapeutic evaluation to identify biomarkers of treatment response and evaluate emerging therapeutic strategies. Through collaborations with adult and paediatric cancer centres across Australia, including the ZERO Childhood Cancer Program, we study clinically relevant models spanning newly diagnosed, relapsed and therapy-resistant disease.

By integrating mechanistic laboratory discovery with translational therapeutic evaluation, we aim to identify new therapeutic vulnerabilities, discover predictive biomarkers and generate the preclinical evidence needed to accelerate biomarker-guided clinical trials.

Group Leader

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Research Themes

  • Mechanisms of resistance to BH3 mimetics and other targeted therapies.
  • Metabolic and immunometabolic vulnerabilities in therapy-resistant leukaemia.
  • Biomarker discovery using functional genomics and single-cell technologies.
  • Preclinical evaluation of novel targeted therapies using patient-derived models.
  • Translation of laboratory discoveries into biomarker-guided clinical trials.

The laboratory provides a collaborative and multidisciplinary research environment for Honours, Masters and PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and clinician-scientists committed to improving outcomes for patients with high-risk blood cancers.

Funding

The laboratory is supported by a Cancer Council NSW Project Grant (2026–2029) investigating novel targeted therapies for high-risk acute leukaemia.