Cassandra Vandenberg is a senior research officer at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI). Her research has centred around the use of mouse models, genetically engineered or patient-derived xenograft (PDX), to investigate cancer development and explore new treatment strategies for poor prognosis rare gynaecological cancers (RGC).

Working within the WEHI Stafford Fox Rare Cancer Program, Cassandra’s team has developed >100 PDX models of RGC. By developing both academic and pharma collaborations, she has designed and overseen in vivo preclinical drug trials interrogating a range of potential vulnerabilities and drug resistance mechanisms in RGC, using the microtubule inhibitor eribulin, multiple PARP inhibitors, other DNA damage response inhibitors and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Her work has informed clinical trial design and demonstrated additional indications for approved drugs in RGC.