HONOURS USING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM TO TREAT CANCER

Prof Rajiv Khanna, AO

to medicine in the eld of immunology in the treatment of cancers, infectious complications and chronic disease

As a post-doctoral researcher with PGRI Chandigarh, Rajiv Khanna’s ongoing interest in immunology brought him to Australia in the late eighties. After a brief stint in Adelaide, he joined the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (now known as QIMR Berghofer), eventually heading its Centre for Immunotherapy and Vaccine Development.

Since then he has been at the helm of cutting edge translational research, breaking new ground in cancer therapy with several patents and world first clinical trials. His illustrious career stems from a longstanding and deeply entrenched interest in the human sciences, spurred on by his pharmacologist father.

In the latest Australian government honours, Dr Khanna has been recognised with the Order of Australia (AO).

“As a scientist and medical researcher, it is wonderful to be honoured by the wider community,” he told Indian Link. “It is recognition of two decades of work, not just mine, but also that of my whole team.”

He went on, “Professor Denis Moss and I started to work together on immunotherapy hoping it would lead to new treatments, and that has become a reality. We never imagined that we would be where we are today. If our treatments can improve both life expectancy and quality of life for patients, then we will have achieved our goal.”

Khanna is both humbled and proud to be part of what is clearly one of the finest medical research fraternities in the world.

“Australia has some of the best scientific minds and top discoveries, despite our relatively small population,” he reiterated. “And Australian researchers are making invaluable contributions to the advancement of science and therapies, despite the fact that countries like US have far greater funding for scientific research.”

In the field of immunology alone, we are certainly among the top 3% globally, he stated. “Our research institutions in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are among the finest in the world. In fact, we often undervalue ourselves and our contributions.”

Dr Khanna is particularly grateful for the generous donations that have made his substantial body of research possible, noting that he had been “very lucky to get grants from NHMRC as well as other organisations and philanthropic individuals.”

At QIMR Berghofer, his pioneering research includes developing cellular treatment for Multiple Sclerosis patients, leading a clinical trial targeting Glioblastoma multiforme, one of the deadliest of cancers, besides creating an immunotherapy treatment for the head and neck cancer nasopharyngeal carcinoma, as well as for those with complications from organ transplant.

“Aggressive cancers like brain cancer continue to pose challenges but with the collaborative work being undertaken with wider global research community, we will have some positive outcomes in future,” Khanna hopes.

Cancers patients traditionally have three pillars of treatment - surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. “We have added immunotherapy, which has fewer side effects, as the fourth pillar,” Dr Khanna explained, delving into his area of expertise.

Immunotherapy involves taking a patient’s own immune cells and “boosting” or “training” them to destroy viruses that are present in cancer cells. Patients are infused over a number of weeks and monitored for twelve months. It is specifically tailored to suit individual need, depending on the cancer progression. Where patients are not well enough for their own immune cells to be used, Prof. Khanna and his team have also developed treatments using immune cells from healthy donors.

Besides authoring numerous research papers, Prof. Khanna has also contributed to the development of stronger relations between Australia and India, particularly in the areas of science and medical research, through the Australia India Business Council. He is very actively involved in social and cultural activities of the Indian community in Brisbane.

Usha Ramanujam Arvind

by gathering data, digging out the root cause of the problem and offering preventions for the greater population.”

Dr Patel was born and raised in South Africa. Growing up as a third-class citizen during the apartheid, I appreciate my good fortune in being able to go to university,” he recounted. “When he realised at university that the main diseases were the diseases of poverty, I decided my career would involve looking at poverty from the health perspective.”

He left South Africa for Australia in 1974.

Elaborating on his MAE program, he said, “It is an innovative way of teaching people about public health. We teach doctors, nurses, laboratory workers, heart specialists and psychiatrists who want to switch to working at a community level.

They undergo a two-year course where they are based in the government health department and work on real problems.”

Dr Patel shared, “In Australia I have worked with marginalised communities in Alice Springs and in PNG. My focus was diabetes which is a huge problem in Aboriginal communities. Then the opportunity presented in Canberra to look at a new way of approaching infectious diseases. Once the program was up and running I spent time in Asia and the Pacific Island countries, analysing ways to strengthen the capacity of their health workers.”

Similar programs have been set up by him in China, Vietnam and Malaysia. Dr Patel’s aim is to develop a country’s own capacity to identify threats and respond to them effectively.

He believes that with the climate changing rapidly, we will be facing more dangers like Ebola, flu epidemic and SARS. “Infectious diseases are going to be a major threat in the future, so it is my mission to make countries better prepared to handle them.”

When asked what the OAM honour means to him, Dr Patel reflected, “Professionally, it is great to know that my colleagues recognise my contribution.

It is an affirmation of the fact that my work is on the right track and is making a difference. This encourages me to continue and increase the momentum.”

Talking about inspiration Dr Patel said, “I draw my inspiration from my life, my childhood and looking at all the champions around me who have wanted to do something about poverty and suffering.”

His future aspirations are to help poor nations develop the capacity to combat disease and to investigate why the poorer countries are more at risk of epidemics.

He wants to draw attention to the fact that developed countries can do a lot more than just give money to strengthen the health system in poor countries. Dr Patel believes there are two ways to handle this issue. One is to increase the capacity of the health system, and the other is to do more to stop rich countries exploiting the poor.

“These are the challenges we have to work on if we’re serious about health in the poor countries. We have to work hard to bring about change,” concluded Dr Patel.

Farzana

Ahmad