Ian Parish Q&A

Ian Parish
Group Leader

What are you researching in lay terms?

I'm researching how cancer manipulates our immune system to avoid being attacked and killed by immune cells.

What motivated you to come and work at Peter Mac?

The opportunity to apply my knowledge of immunology to improving the treatment of cancer.

What drives you to achieve better outcomes for cancer patients?

Many people with cancer don't respond to current therapies and have limited treatment options. Immune therapies have the potential to provide new and effective treatments across a broad range of cancers. The potential to provide treatment options for people in these circumstances is a major motivation for me.

How will your research improve outcomes for cancer patients?

We hope that our research will lead to new immune therapies for cancer, particularly for those cancer patients that don't respond to current treatments.

What do you like most about working for Peter Mac?

Peter Mac has a very unique research environment that spans all areas from fundamental biology all the way through to clinical and health services research. Coupled with the highly collaborative research environment, this has led to a very successful and dynamic research program that is exciting and fun to work in.

Can you please detail how your research has used and benefitted from the core facilities at Peter Mac?

Core facilities are an integral part of our research, and our research would not be possible without them. Our preclinical research would not be possible without the Animal Core facility and its associated Genotyping facility. The Flow Cytometry Core facility is critical for analysing our samples, and both the Molecular Genomics Core and the Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics are essential for all of our molecular analyses.