Liz Caldon is a cancer cell biologist whose research focuses on how tumours evolve under therapy and become resistant to treatment. After completing an MSc at the University of Toronto and a PhD at UNSW Sydney, Liz was appointed a Lab Head at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in 2023. She is also an Associate Professor (Conjoint) in the School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney.
Liz’s team investigates how breast and ovarian cancers develop resistance to standard of care therapies. Of particular interest to the group is how cancer cells treated with cytostatic drugs can co-opt different biological pathways to survive and metastasise. This has led to new discoveries on mechanisms of drug resistance to endocrine therapies (tamoxifen, fulvestrant, aromatase inhibitors), CDK4/6 inhibitors and PARP inhibitors. Liz’s work aims to apply insights from cancer biology to develop new therapeutic targets that can improve clinical outcomes. Liz's research has been supported by NHMRC, NBCF, OCRF and Cancer Institute NSW.