BCL-2: From Translocation to Therapy

Abstract

Impaired apoptosis is a critical step in the development of cancer and a major impediment to effective therapy. Bcl-2, the oncoprotein activated by chromosome translocation in human follicular lymphoma, inhibits cells from undergoing apoptosis in response to many cytotoxic agents. Exciting recent developments suggest that small molecules which neutralise Bcl-2 and its anti-apoptotic homologues will be effective cancer therapeutics.

About the Keynote Speaker. Professor Suzanne Cory is one of Australia’s most distinguished molecular biologists. She was born in Melbourne, Australia and graduated in biochemistry from The University of Melbourne. She gained her PhD from the University of Cambridge, England and then continued studies at the University of Geneva before returning to Melbourne in 1971, to a research position at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. She is currently Director of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and Professor of Medical Biology of The University of Melbourne. Her research has had a major impact in the fields of immunology and cancer and her scientific achievements have attracted numerous honours and awards.