Dr Rebecca Lehmann | UNSW Research

Biography

Dr. Rebecca Lehmann is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Brain Tumour group at the Children's Cancer Institute, under the supervision of Dr. Ben Rayner and Prof. David Ziegler. Rebecca graduated from a Bachelor of Biomedical Science in 2013 from the University of Adelaide with First Class Honours, and received her PhD from the University of Adelaide in 2019. During her PhD candidature, Rebecca investigated the mechanisms underlying the severe neurological pathology of the paediatric neurodegenerative disease, Mucopolysaccharidosis, examining the effects of increased heparan sulphate content and aberrant sulphation patterning on stem cell differentiation. In 2019, following completion of her PhD, Rebecca started as a postdoctoral researcher in the Brain Tumour Group at the Children's Cancer Institute. Her work focuses on identifying new treatments for children with the universally lethal brain tumour, Diffuse Midline Glioma, and other hard to treat childhood brain tumours.

My Grants

Perpetual IMPACT Philanthropy Grant (2023 - 2024): A better treatment for drug-resistant childhood brain cancer

Tour de Cure ECR grant (2024 - 2025): New treatments for drug-resistant BRAF^V600E paediatric high-grade glioma

My Qualifications

PhD, University of Adelaide, 2015-2019

Bachelor of Science (Hons), University of Adelaide, 2013

Bachelor of Science (BiomedSc), University of Adelaide, 2010-2012

My Awards

2023 Cancer Institute NSW Travel Grant

2023 Kids Cancer Alliance (KCA) Childhood Cancer Symposium ECR Oral Presentation First Prize

2023 Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) National Conference EMCR Poster Award

2022 Children's Cancer Institute Research Symposium Outstanding ECR Poster Presentation Award

2021 University of Adelaide AMS/Biomedicine Publication Award

2018 Fresh Science Competition South Australian Finalist

2018 Hospital Research Foundation BioMed City Travel Award

2018 National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia Travel Award

2018 Walter and Dorothy Duncan Trust Travel Grant

2017 Australian and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology (ANZSCDB) Outstanding Student Oral Presentation Prize

2017 Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) Travel Award

2015 Matrix Biology Society of Australia and New Zealand (MBSANZ) Travel Award

2015 Australian Postgraduate Award (PhD Scholarship)

2013 University of Adelaide Molecular and Biomedical Science Honours Scholarship

My Research Activities

1. Identifying new treatments for BRAF/MEK inhibitor resistant paediatric brain tumours

2. Determining the efficacy of CDK4/6 inhibitor combination treatments for Diffuse Midline Glioma

My Research Supervision

Areas of supervision

Honours and PhD Projects currently available:

- Drug resistance in paediatric high-grade glioma

Drug resistance is a constant obstacle to developing effective treatments in paediatric high-grade glioma. This project will focus on developing novel treatments against BRAF-inhibitor resistant paediatric high-grade glioma and determining their efficacy in vitro and in vivo.

- Cell cycle inhibitors in diffuse midline glioma

The cell cycle is frequently dysregulated in diffuse midline glioma, the most lethal paediatric brain tumour. This project focuses on identifying new therapies which target cell cycle dysregulation, both in vitro and in vivo.