In 2025 PCFA called for applications for the Priority Impact Research Award - Ignite Synergy Grant (PIRA - ISG), a bold, high-investment initiative designed to elevate prostate cancer research in Australia while empowering the next generation of scientific leaders. The PIRA-ISG was designed to fund visionary, high-impact discovery research with the potential for near-term clinical translation, while embedding leadership development for early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) at its core.
The PIRA-ISG funds a single $4.5 million PIRA-ISG in Australia for a fixed term of 3 years to support a multi-institutional team comprising at least 3 institutions across 3 states or territories of Australia with the scientific and clinical expertise required to achieve a near-term, transformative impact on the clinical management of prostate cancer. A PIRA-ISG team must demonstrate that the whole team working together will be greater than the sum of the parts.
The PIRA-ISG team must include established scientists, early and mid-career scientists, clinicians and consumers working collaboratively towards mutual goals whilst leveraging an interdisciplinary group of prostate cancer experts.
Priority Impact Research Award Scheme Recipients
Prof Michael Hofman, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/The University of Melbourne, VIC
Breakthrough Theranostics: New Targets, Isotopes, and AIEnhanced Predictive Biomarkers to Drive Patient-Centred Impact.
Prof Hofman and his PIRA-ISG team are developing a new personalised approach to treating prostate cancer, aiming to transform imaging and therapy, ultimately improving outcomes and quality-of-life for men. Their overarching vision is to increase survival, cure rates and quality-of-life for patients with prostate cancer. They acknowledge the current frontline treatment of Androgen Deprivation Therapy has devastating side effects, not just for patients, but also partners and often entire families. This project will develop next-generation “theranostics”, a cutting-edge technology that combines diagnostic imaging and targeted therapy in a single, patient-centred approach. The PIRA-ISG team members pioneered PSMA PET and radioligand therapy (RLT) and are world leaders in this field.
Their vision is bold: to use theranostics not just to manage prostate cancer, but to cure men and reduce deaths. This research could lead to new, safer, and more effective treatment options available globally within the next 10 years.
The team members
Chief Investigators
- Prof Arun Azad, Hofman, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/The University of Melbourne, VIC
- Associate Prof Luc Furic, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/The University of Melbourne & Monash University, VIC
- Prof Christopher Sweeney, South Australia immunoGENomics Cancer Institute, University of Adelaide, SA
- Prof Roslyn Francis, Herston Imaging Research Facility, University of Queensland, QLD
Team Leaders
- Dr Mo Haskali, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/The University of Melbourne, VIC
- Dr Wenxiao Kay Yue, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/The University of Melbourne, VIC
- Dr Katie Owen, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/The University of Melbourne, VIC
- Dr James Buteau, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/The University of Melbourne, VIC
- Dr Katherine Morel, South Australia immunoGENomics Cancer Institute, University of Adelaide, SA
- Dr Edmond Kwan, Monash University, VIC
- Dr Anna Trigos, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/The University of Melbourne, VIC
- Dr Price Jackson, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/The University of Melbourne, VIC
