Name Rosetta Martiniello-Wilks | ||
Rosetta martiniello wilks top 5 facts
Dr Rosetta Martiniello-Wilks is an Australian cancer researcher and the current President of the Australasian Gene and Cell Therapy Society. She is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Medical and Molecular Biosciences at the University of Technology (UTS) in Ultimo, Sydney, Australia. Martiniello-Wilks is a core member of the Centre for Health Technologies at UTS and Head of the Translational Cancer Research Group in the School of Medical and Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Science, UTS.
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Martiniello-Wilks' research includes searching for prostate cancer cures by developing gene and cell therapies and other innovative technologies:
New cancer hope (UTS website article) - "Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in Australia and many other western countries. If treated early with surgery, PCa has a cure rate of over 90 per cent. However, once advanced, it is incurable. Dr Martiniello-Wilks with Professor Pamela Russell, CSIRO lead scientists Dr Gerry Both, Dr Peter Molloy, Dr Trevor Lockett and their laboratories, have developed a cutting-edge 'direct delivery method' for advanced local PCa. This Gene Medicine for PCa uses a unique and safe virus to deliver a suicide gene, in a targeted manner, to prostate cells."
Martiniello-Wilks is a translational scientist who takes basic science discoveries and translates them into the clinic. In collaboration with CSIRO, Martiniello-Wilks' research contributed significantly to the development of a "Gene Medicine" for Stage II prostate cancer based on novel viral vector delivery and suicide gene technologies. Aspects of this patented work (6 national/international patents with Martiniello-Wilks listed as an Inventor) has received Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) CTX approval for a Phase 1 clinical trial (registered NCT00625430; www.clinicaltrials.gov). Other highlights of Martiniello-Wilks' research include: a CSIRO Chairman's Medal Platinum Nomination; attraction of >$9.5 million competitive research funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Movember, Sydney Cancer Centre Foundation; Australian Cancer Research Foundation; Cancer Institute NSW; US Army Department of Defense and the National Cancer Institute, USA.
In 2010, Martiniello-Wilks was recruited to the University of Technology Sydney as a Senior Lecturer and Core Member of the Centre for Health Technologies, a vehicle for developing health research findings. Martiniello-Wilks currently leads the Translational Cancer Research Group (TCRG) in the development of novel cell and gene therapies for cancer metastases; in biomarker discovery for the development of novel assays for early cancer detection and prognosis. She has been an Australasian Gene Therapy Society (AGTS) member since 1997 and with the endorsement of the AGTS Executive Committee initiated the AGTS Member Best Paper Prize and the AGTS Lifetime Member Award. Martiniello-Wilks currently serves the cell and gene therapy research community as President of the Australasian Gene and Cell Therapy Society (AGCTS), Chairperson UTS Biosafety Committee, co-Convenor UTS Biomedical Seminar Series and hopes to continue contributing to the discovery and development of cancer biomarkers and biotherapies in Australia.