CANCER RESEARCH & ONCOLOGY

Committee	Researcher-in-charge: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wan Faiziah Wan Abdul Rahman Deputy I: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norhafiza Mat Lazim Deputy II: Dr. Aidy Irman Yajid Subcommittee (According to subcluster): 1. TBA 2. TBA 3. TBA 4. Dr. Norazlina Mat Nawi 5. TBA
Subcluster	1. Cancer prevention, detection and biomarker discovery 2. Cancer genetics and precision medicine 3. Clinical and translational cancer research 4. Cancer therapeutics 5. Artificial intelligence and machine learning development in cancer care
Impactful Research Cluster Objectives:	The purpose of the cluster is to enhance the advancement in cancer and oncology research for the objective of improving our understanding of cancer biology, with the purpose of promoting the development of novel technologies and platforms for cancer monitoring and diagnosis in addition to discovering new treatment protocol to combat cancer progression, personalize cancer treatment and the most important is to foster interdisciplinary collaboration. These are their subclusters and objectives: 1. Cancer Prevention, detection & biomarker discovery Obj: Discovering novel biomarkers and understanding their role of carcinogenesis to enhance our knowledge regarding risks and factors that contributes to cancer manifestation. This subcluster covers biometric research such as biostatistics, epidemiology and mathematical modelling of cancer process prevention and early detection of cancers (breast cancers, lung, prostate, cervix, colorectal, nasopharyngeal, thyroid etc) and their precursor lesions developing and validating biomarkers for early detection and risk assessment advancing the development of technologies for molecular visualisation of cancer tissues clinical oncology trials on cancer prevention and control in community settings understanding the basic science of research that affect cancer risk and tumour cell behaviour 2. Cancer genetics & precision medicine Obj: Promoting understanding of cancer development by discovering novel genetic components associated with cancer in addition to evaluating newly discovered cancer biomarkers for the development of future precision medicine: employing powerful molecular tools to discover genetic changes associated with different cancer types determining genetics profile that have high correlation with different cancer types and degree of severity understanding unique cancer pathways and establishing their importance in cancer development and maintenance analysing molecular data to determine specific cancer genetic profiles that will be useful to be used to enhance current precision medicine. identifying genetic signatures for personalised approach to predict individual patient responses to different treatments that can lead to more effective and tailored treatment plans, minimizing unnecessary side effects and improving patient outcomes. 3. Clinical and translational cancer research Obj: Translating scientific knowledge, insights, and discoveries into practical applications and enhancing current cancer diagnosis and patients outcome by evaluating biomarkers for their sensitivity and specificity for cancer detection and evaluating the safety and effectiveness of new interventions, therapies, and treatment strategies in clinical settings. establishing the effectiveness of novel diagnostic methods in detecting specific cancer types conducting evaluation tests using clinical samples to determine the sensitivity and specificity of newly developed diagnostic tool in comparison to the gold standard diagnostic tools that are currently in use within the clinical setting assessing the efficacy and safety of new drugs or treatment regimens, evaluating novel diagnostic tools or biomarkers, exploring supportive care interventions, and examining the impact of lifestyle factors on cancer prevention and survivorship 4. Cancer therapeutics Obj: Exploring novel compounds and agents that have the potential to be used as future therapeutics against cancer and enhancing surgical outcomes, minimize invasiveness, reduce complications, and improve overall patient care : examining potential use of natural product for anti-cancer properties discovering novel compounds from natural products that show anti-cancer properties determining specific components and pathways within cancer cells that are targeted by anti-cancer compounds and evaluating their effectiveness in deterring cancer progression and reversing carcinogenesis. innovation in cancer surgeries with new machinery such as robotic surgery, minimally invasive surgery, intraoperative radiation therapy, surgical navigation system and advanced surgical oncology devices. 5. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) development in cancer care Obj: Developing AI, ML and other forms of deep learning to assist in recognising cancer, advancing cancer detection, treatment, prognosis and recovery by: establishing networking with coding experts to co-develop algorithms for cancer recognition programs in identifying patterns, anomalies, and potential malignancies, assisting radiologists and pathologists in making more accurate and efficient diagnoses. integrating clinical data, imaging results, genomic information, and other relevant parameters to develop prognostic models that predict patient outcomes and treatment responses that able to assist physicians in making informed decisions regarding treatment strategies and follow-up plans.
Strength and facilities	Experts in cancer: The cluster is made up of personnels and that are specialists in cancer. Our team consist of clinician with subspecialties, researchers, statisticians and programmers that are motivated to explore cancer biology, detection and therapeutics. Facilities: Our cluster is equipped with facilities that will allow for extensive research on cancer genetics, cancer molecular genetics and development as well as resources to study potential therapeutics against cancer. We also have access to collaborators that allows us to dive into other platforms such as artificial intelligent (AI) and machine learning (MI) to assist in our cancer research. Academic training: We have extensive programs to train and develop future talents in cancer clinical diagnosis and research. Our cluster is specialized at training future clinicians and academicians through official training and mentoring. Collaboration with industry leaders: The cluster has accumulated various collaboration with other international and local universities as well as industry leaders in research application. Through collaborations, we have managed to fast track our research and expand into unfamiliar research fields to enhance our research capabilities. Research funding: Our cluster is very active in acquiring research funds from various resources including the government, private sector and international organization. These funds allow for extensive research to be conducted in addition to helping the development of future talents.
Aim to be HiCoE	We are striving to contribute towards research excellence in alignment with Higher Education Centre of Excellence (HiCoe). We are committed to establishing: Research excellence Our cluster is focused on producing high-quality research by means of multi-disciplinary collaborations, adequate funding and state of the art research facilities. In addition, we also strive to develop future talents to continue our strive for research excellence in the future. Innovation The cluster is set on contributing to better understanding of cancer, the innovation of new technologies and platforms to enhance cancer diagnostics and discovering novel therapeutics against cancer. We are aiming to utilise our research discoveries to develop novel diagnostic methodologies and treatment method to combat cancer. Professional services Our cluster has been involved in clinical diagnosis and the treatment for the benefit of cancer patients. We aim to integrate novel diagnosis and treatment methodologies acquired through our extensive research to further expand our contributions to our patients. We also aim to become one of the leading centres for cancer research, diagnosis and treatment. Networking Our cluster strives to recruit more international and local collaborations to help us not only for technological and funding assistance, but also for means to exchange valuable information. We are aware of the variation in cancer genetics among different population across the globe, thus exchanging information between collaborators are important to understand the disease in order to formulate effective methods for detection and treatment. WE LOOK FORWARD TO ESTABLISH USM CANCER AND ONCOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (CORIUS)
Possible contribution to the country and APEX agenda	Enhanced cancer detection and management: Our research will enable progression towards more efficient and cost-effective diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Enhance understanding of cancer: Understanding molecular changes and factors associated with cancer development will enable the establishment of specialised diagnosis and personalised treatment for cancer patients. Development of novel diagnostic tool and treatment of cancer: Advancement in our research will enable production of better diagnosis tool and treatment against cancer that can be integrated in our hospitals and marketed worldwide. Development of future talent: our ongoing research and clinical involvement will ensure consistent development of future academicians and clinicians that will be important in our ongoing fight against cancer. Collaboration and partnership: Ongoing collaboration and partnership is one of the main aims of our cluster to enable acquisition of funding and latest technologies in addition to information exchange to better assist us in understanding the disease and finding ways to cure it. We are committed to the above contributions that aligned with the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s APEX agenda. We are confident that our contributions will lead to research excellence, reducing social impact of cancer and inspire Malaysian innovation against cancer.