A PhD scholarship is available in Professor Stuart Pitson’s laboratory at the Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia, to examine new therapeutic targets for diffuse midline glioma. Diffuse midline glioma (DMG) is a brain tumour that most commonly occurs in children under 7. These are aggressive tumours, and are almost universally fatal, with only 10% of patients surviving two years after diagnosis. Thus, new therapies are desperately needed. Sphingosine kinase 2 (SK2) has been recently identified as a potential new therapeutic target for DMG. This will be examined further in this proposal using advanced mouse models of DMG we have established through targeting SK2 using both a CRISPR/Cas9 knockout and a SK2 inhibitor that is in Phase 2 clinical trials for other cancers. Successful outcomes in this proposal will establish SK2 as a therapeutic target in DMG, and identify a new potential therapy for DMG which may lead to Phase 2 clinical trials in children with DMG. This project can be tailored to the interests of the student, but will involve the culture and manipulation of patient-derived cells, advanced skills in intracranial xenografts and therapeutic interventions in mice, as well as extensive experience in experimental cell biology and cell signalling.

Applications
https://unisa.edu.au/research/degrees/sphingolipid-metabolism-therapy-diffuse

Application deadline: 25 November 2025 

Professor Stuart Pitson
Stuart.pitson@unisa.edu.au