WE CAN SAVE LIVES TOGETHER

Since 1998, the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research has made significant discoveries into the diseases that most affect our families, in particular heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Over 200 researchers, scientists and clinicians are housed in two state-of-the-art research facilities in Western Australia. The Perkins is committed to giving you and those you love the opportunity to live longer, healthier and better lives by helping WA’s best medical researchers beat the world’s toughest diseases. 

Research teams dedicated to finding answers to defeat cancers have been generously funded from the MACA Cancer 200 for the last 15 years.

In 2026, this is how you are having an impact.

BY BACKING NEW DISCOVERIES

Thanks to your generosity, the funds you raise will protect early-to-mid career researchers through the Perkins Safe Harbour Fellowship.

Dr Qi Fang was the first Cancer 200 Safe Harbor Fellow. Awarded in 2025, he is addressing a critical issue in breast cancer surgery.

For one in four patients, residual cancer cells are missed during initial surgery to remove the cancer. Qi, a biomedical engineer and physicist is developing optical imaging tools for surgeons to help them detect the presence of microscopic cancer cells during surgery. The outcome for patients means reducing the need for subsequent surgeries, less trauma and more targeted care. 

The pursuit of bold ideas and exciting discoveries like this are made possible by the funds you raise ensuring that innovative medical research continues to be nurtured and stay in WA.

Cancer 200 Safe Harbour Fellow, Dr Qi Fang

Cancer 200 Safe Harbour Fellow, Dr Rowan Sanderson

USING TECHNOLOGY TO BETTER TREAT CANCER

Dr Rowan Sanderson is your newest Cancer 200 Safe Harbour Fellow. This means that his ground-breaking research is funded for three years.

MELANOMA

You are helping Professor Elin Gray lead a game-changing cancer research project with a real global impact.

Western Australia has one of the highest rates of melanoma in the world, with over 1,300 people diagnosed each year. It is one of the deadliest cancers and the cancer most likely to affect 15- to 39-year-old males.

Malignant melanoma makes up only 1 to 2 percent of all skin cancers but is classed as the most dangerous.

Prof. Gray's research focuses on melanoma, including a highly aggressive form that affects the eye. With your generosity, her team is developing liquid biopsy techniques to detect, monitor and characterise tumours, including circulating tumour cells, circulating tumour DNA and extracellular vesicles to guide treatment decisions.

IMMUNOTHERAPY

Your generous funding is advancing groundbreaking research in immunotherapy.

Professor Ruth Ganss and her team have found that administering anti-cancer drugs at a lower dose than current protocols could actually make the abnormal vasculatures surround a tumour more normal which then allows immune cells to enter and attack cancer cells. This could potentially help those affected by melanoma, brain and pancreatic cancer using already clinically approved anti-cancer drugs.

Prof Ruth Ganss

Dr Jennifer Currenti

Emeritus Prof George Yeoh
Prof Peter Leedman AO

LIVER CANCER

Liver cancer, still poses a serious risk to the health of Australians, with an alarming survival rate of 18%. Perkins researchers are leading the charge to change this by uncovering new treatments and improve outcomes for those affected.

Thanks to your support, Dr Jennifer Currenti is progressing in her research looking into immune cells to identify markers that will tell researchers if they will respond to immunotherapy, meaning patients can receive more targeted treatments that will lead to better health outcomes.

Research also continues through RNA-technology lead by Prof George Yeoh and Prof Peter Leedman. Their teams have identified a mirco-RNA, specifically microRNA-7, as a possible effective inhibitor of liver cancer. Remarkbly making drug-resistant liver cancer cells receptive to the same drug again.