Over the past 30 years, very little progress has been made in the care of brain cancers, especially in Glioblastoma multiform (GBM) - the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer in adults.

But that looks set to change, with Flinders University, UniSA and SAHMRI researchers collaborating on bold and exciting new research.

Dr Cedric Bardy and his team will use a Flinders Foundation Health Seed Grant to develop a human ‘mini brain’ model in vitro to study the mechanisms of brain cancer. This highly innovative project will address a clear knowledge gap in the interactions between human brain tissue and gliomas.

Glioblastoma responds poorly to current therapies including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, but this first-of-its-kind research will enable the screening of hundreds of drugs simultaneously on human Glioblastoma biopsies to test drug effectiveness.

This work paves the way for new and personalised treatments to better target brain tumours and improve survival rates in brain cancer patients.

This research is made possible thanks to SA Police’s Ride Like Crazy community cycling event, Cycle Cambodia to Cure Cancer community fundraisers and the friends and family of Anthony Mazzone.

Project title: A new brain cancer model to study patient-derived glioblastoma cells in a human neuronal microenvironment.

Lead researcher: Dr Cedric Bardy