Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Gwo Yaw Ho is a medical oncologist and a clinician-scientist investigating better ways to treat cancer. Dr Ho graduated from The University of Glasgow, Scotland, in 2004, before completing his medical oncology specialist training in Brisbane, Queensland, in 2014. In 2019, he completed a laboratory-based, translational PhD at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne. Do Ho’s PhD in ovarian and rare cancer research was completed whilst he worked simultaneously as a medical oncologist at Peter McCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne. Dr Ho is now leading a research group in the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash University and is also a part of the medical oncology team at Monash Health treating patients with breast and gynaecologic cancers within the Clinical Trial Unit.
Research interests:
Almost all patients with stage 4 solid tumour cancers eventually succumb to their disease. Despite major advances in cancer systemic therapeutics; chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy remain the only cancer treatment options associated with significant long-term survival benefit, if the tumour responds.
Dr Ho’s research team at Monash University has developed a novel tumour analysis platform that can identify neoantigens (cancer cell proteins). Do Ho’s team are able to determine the correct T-cell receptors against specific neoantigens, and to transfer T-cell receptors to the appropriate cancer-killing immune-cells. This novel platform has the potential to revolutionise how cancers are treated, by tailoring immunotherapy specifically to a patient’s tumour and immune system.
Other research interests:
MYCN is an early embryonic developmental gene that is completely silenced following completion of embryogenesis, except in the context of malignancy or in spermatogonial stem cell population. It plays an important role in regulating cell growth and division (proliferation), self-destruction of cells (apoptosis), cell stemness and differentiation (cell fate), and cell migration. Twenty percent of high grade serous ovarian cancers (HGSOC) are associated with MYCN oncogene pathway activation, which is linked to stem cell like behaviour and confers a poor prognosis.
Dr Ho’s research focuses on understanding the role of the MYCN pathway in HGSOC tumorigenesis and developing robust pre-clinical models to explore novel therapeutics for this subset of HGSOC. His studies have demonstrated that activation of the MYCN pathway in the fallopian tube secretory epithelial cells can drive ovarian cancer development and he utilises this model to generate pre-clinical data to support clinical trial designs.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Cancer Research, PhD, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI)
Award Date: 26 Aug 2019
Medicine, MBChB, University of Glasgow
Award Date: 5 Jul 2004
Molecular and Cellular Biology, BSc (Hon) , University of Glasgow
Award Date: 1 Jul 2002
External positions
Senior Medical Oncologist, Monash Health
8 Oct 2018 → …
Research area keywords
- Cancer
- Cancer Biology
- Biomarkers
- T-cell Receptor Therapy
- Immunopeptidomics
Network
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Characterisation of DNA repair antibody DX-1 and DX-3 in autoimmune vasculitis and immunologically cold ovarian cancer
O'Sullivan, K., Ho, G. & Ooi, J.
2/01/23 → 30/06/23
Project: Research
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Using the power of cord blood stem cells to humanize mice for effective cancer immunotherapy research
Greenall, S., Watt, A., Ho, G., Segelov, E., O'Keeffe, M. & Jenkin, G.
1/01/20 → 31/12/21
Project: Research
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Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition Supports Ovarian Carcinosarcoma Tumorigenesis and Confers Sensitivity to Microtubule Targeting with Eribulin
Ho, G. Y., Kyran, E. L., Bedo, J., Wakefield, M. J., Ennis, D. P., Mirza, H. B., Vandenberg, C. J., Lieschke, E., Farrell, A., Hadla, A., Lim, R., Dall, G., Vince, J. E., Chua, N. K., Kondrashova, O., Upstill-Goddard, R., Bailey, U. M., Dowson, S., Roxburgh, P., Glasspool, R. M., & 15 others , 2 Dec 2022, In: Cancer Research. 82, 23, p. 4457-4473 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Suppression of the ABCA1 Cholesterol Transporter Impairs the Growth and Migration of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
Gao, J., Jung, M., Williams, R. T., Hui, D., Russell, A. J., Naim, A. J., Kamili, A., Clifton, M., Bongers, A., Mayoh, C., Ho, G., Scott, C. L., Jessup, W., Haber, M., Norris, M. D. & Henderson, M. J., 2 Apr 2022, In: Cancers. 14, 8, 17 p., 1878.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access6 Citations (Scopus) -
Acquired RAD51C promoter methylation loss causes PARP inhibitor resistance in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma
Nesic, K., Kondrashova, O., Hurley, R. M., McGehee, C. D., Vandenberg, C. J., Ho, G-Y., Lieschke, E., Dall, G., Bound, N., Shield-Artin, K., Radke, M., Musafer, A., Chai, Z. Q., Ghamsari, M. R. E., Harrell, M. I., Kee, D., Olesen, I., McNally, O., Traficante, N., DeFazio, A., & 9 others , 15 Sep 2021, In: Cancer Research. 81, 18, p. 4709-4772 64 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
23 Citations (Scopus) -
Enhanced toxicity with CDK 4/6 inhibitors and palliative radiotherapy: Non-consecutive case series and review of the literature
David, S., Ho, G., Day, D., Harris, M., Tan, J., Goel, S., Hanna, G. G., Srivastava, R., Kruss, G., McDowell, L. & White, M., Jan 2021, In: Translational Oncology. 14, 1, 7 p., 100939.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access13 Citations (Scopus) -
Preclinical small molecule WEHI-7326 overcomes drug resistance and elicits response in patient-derived xenograft models of human treatment-refractory tumors
Grohmann, C., Walker, F., Devlin, M., Luo, M. X., Chüeh, A. C., Doherty, J., Vaillant, F., Ho, G. Y., Wakefield, M. J., Weeden, C. E., Kamili, A., Murray, J., Po’uha, S. T., Weinstock, J., Kane, S. R., Faux, M. C., Broekhuizen, E., Zheng, Y., Shield-Artin, K., Kershaw, N. J., & 15 others , 12 Mar 2021, In: Cell Death & Disease. 12, 3, 18 p., 268.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access2 Citations (Scopus)
Activities
- 3 Contribution to conference
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Combine Scientific Meeting of the Australia-New-Zealand-Gynaecology-Oncology-Group
Gwo-Yaw Ho (Speaker)
Apr 2018Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
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Combine Scientific Meeting of the Australia-New-Zealand-Gynaecology-Oncology-Group
Gwo-Yaw Ho (Speaker)
Apr 2016Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
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Royal Women Hospital Research week
Gwo-Yaw Ho (Speaker)
Nov 2016Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference