About This Event
Orazio Vittorio is an internationally recognized cancer biologist and Scientia Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, where he leads the Metal Targeted Therapy & Immunology Laboratory. His research program is best known for pioneering work on copper metabolism in cancer, including the world-first demonstration that neuronal tumour cells accumulate significantly higher intracellular copper levels than non-malignant cells. This foundational discovery drove the development of novel copper-targeted therapeutics for neuroblastoma and gliomas, as well as a ⁶⁴CuCl₂-based PET imaging strategy that inspired GE Healthcare's PET imaging program for solid tumors. His more recent work has focused on the role of copper in tumour immune evasion, with a seminal finding that copper regulates PD-L1 expression — establishing a new link between metal homeostasis and cancer immunology. Building on this, his lab identified a strategy to enhance the efficacy of anti-GD2 immunotherapy in neuroblastoma, published in Nature Communications (2024), which has since been incorporated into the international BEACON-2 clinical trial. He continues to investigate copper metabolism in aggressive childhood cancers including neuroblastoma, lower-grade glioma, DIPG, and glioblastoma, with a strong emphasis on translating laboratory discoveries into clinical practice.
