David Ziegler
 David Ziegler with patient at Sydney Children's Hospital |
Postgraduate Alumni (WG Walker) Award
Media Profile
“If 70% of children [with cancer] are now cured of their disease it means that 30% are not. It is my hope that by pursuing research into the causes and potential cures for childhood cancer that one day, in some way, I may be able to make a difference for those children who currently have little hope.”
David Ziegler has won a Fulbright Postgraduate Alumni (WG Walker) Award to conduct research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School with Professor Andrew Kung, a leader in the area of targeted cancer therapy. The prestigious Alumni (WG Walker) Award goes to the highest ranked Postgraduate and is funded through an endowment fund supported by donations from Australian Fulbright Alumni.
David holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery with First Class Honours from the University of New South Wales. He was awarded a prize for achieving the highest rank in Paediatrics during his undergraduate studies and is now a Fellow in Paediatric Haematology and Oncology at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick.
The prognosis for children diagnosed with cancer has dramatically improved over the past few decades. However, it is unlikely that further progress will be made using conventional chemotherapy which has detrimental side effects including hair loss, mouth ulcers, bleeding, life-threatening infections and death. David identifies a pressing need for the development of new therapies that specifically target tumorous cells.
David’s research will centre on understanding how mutated cell pathways contribute to the development of cancer and gain insights into the development of rational targeted therapies. Through work with Professor Kung’s team at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, David will research Targeted Cell Therapy that focuses on specific sites found only on cancer cells, unlike chemotherapy which works by killing any dividing cell in the body.
The outcomes of David’s research will contribute to the alleviation of children suffering with cancer on a global scale. David immensely enjoys working with children and finds nothing more rewarding then the ‘sound than a room full of laughing children’. David explains “walking into a ward filled with kids with cancer is usually more inspiring than it is depressing. They have an optimism, innocence and playfulness from whom most adults could learn a great deal.”
It is hoped that targeted therapies for children with cancer will become widely available in Australia over the next decade.