Career highlights: Brain
cancer

Prof. Johns began his research career with a PhD on skin cancer and later spent nearly seven years working on multiple sclerosis. In 1998, he shifted his focus to brain cancer at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, a global cancer research organisation based in New York. There, he founded the Oncogenic Signalling Laboratory and developed mAb 806, a groundbreaking cancer-specific antibody designed to treat various cancers, including brain cancer. This antibody was later licensed to AbbVie and advanced into late-stage clinical trials for brain cancer.

In 2008, Prof. Johns relocated his lab to the Hudson Institute at Monash University, where he continued his pioneering work on new therapies for brain cancer. After his time at Monash, he became Head of the Telethon Kids Institute Cancer Centre (TKCC) in 2017. In Perth, his research expanded to include children's brain cancer, alongside his ongoing study of the key pathways involved in the growth of high-grade brain cancers in adults. His lab focused on developing innovative therapeutic strategies targeting ion channels, a group of proteins found on the surface of brain cancer cells.

Through this research, Prof. Johns developed a promising new therapy for brain cancer and is actively seeking commercial partners to move it into clinical trials. As Head of TKCC, he also secured $6 million in funding to establish a Centre-wide immunotherapy program. This initiative aims to discover ways to harness a child's immune system to fight their cancer.