Research theme
Research group
Functional Genomics of Leukaemia
Biography
Dr Charley de Bock joined the Institute in January 2019 to establish a new team to work on one of the most difficult to treat blood cancers in children: T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL). A molecular and cellular biologist with over 10 years’ experience researching blood cancers, Charley has a unique skill set combined with a passion to see his research make a difference in people’s lives.
‘Children with T-ALL are high-risk and so receive a very intensive chemotherapy regimen,’ he explains. ‘Many of these children suffer long-term effects of this aggressive treatment and can also develop a treatment-induced secondary cancer. There is therefore a great need for targeted therapies to be developed that can minimise these effects.’
Before joining the Institute, Charley worked at VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology in Belgium, where his research focused on understanding the molecular biology of leukaemia. Here, he developed expertise in a number of cutting-edge technologies including next-generation sequencing and genome editing.
As Team Leader in the Functional Genomics of Leukaemia Group, Charley is focused on developing highly specialised mouse models that will be used to improve our understanding of how T-ALL develops, as well as to study the efficacy of newly developed therapies.
To date, Charley’s research has resulted in 40 peer-reviewed publications, many of which are in high-impact journals such as Cancer Cell and Leukemia. He has also given numerous international presentations, including as an invited plenary speaker, and holds an appointment as Conjoint Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at UNSW Sydney.
