Improving lives through health translation

Introducing Dr Richard Lobb – a new group leader at AIBN who is developing blood-based diagnostic tools to provide earlier and more accurate insights into disease progression of brain cancer and neurological diseases.

Making a difference

Ultimately, what motivates him is the opportunity to improve lives.

Dr Lobb works at the intersection of biology, nanotechnology and medicine, developing new ways to understand, detect and ultimately treat diseases including brain cancer, MND, dementia and traumatic brain injury.

“What really drives me is health translation, where people are deriving benefit from what I’m working on,” he said.

“As a scientist, you're not helping just one person at a time – if you're fortunate enough to develop a new technology, you have the opportunity to improve outcomes for many people.”

A blood test for brain cancer

Dr Lobb has developed a diagnostic blood test for patients with glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer in Australia, to monitor the disease as patients undergo therapy.

“Brain cancer is an insidious, lethal disease. It's mainly monitored through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but often at quite a late stage and by this time it's too late to treat or change the therapy you are on.”

His work is highly collaborative, spanning partnerships with clinicians, hospitals, patient groups and charitable organisations.

Working closely with the Mark Hughes Foundation Centre for Brain Cancer Research, Dr Lobb plans to move to clinical trials where the blood test can provide real-time insight into whether patients are actively responding to their treatment or if it needs to be changed.

Earlier detection for neurological diseases

Over the next decade, Dr Lobb envisions creating precision molecular readouts for a broad range of neurological diseases, generating clinically actionable information that can improve patient care.

“Whether it is MND, dementia, traumatic brain injury or Alzheimer's disease – a definitive diagnostic test will be a gamechanger for these diseases.”

For example, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive brain disease caused by repeated head impacts, can only be diagnosed definitively by a post-mortem.

The challenge of diagnosing CTE has gained increasing attention, with former rugby great Wally Lewis and Socceroos captain Paul Wade disclosing probable diagnoses, alongside reports involving 33 former AFL players.

Dr Lobb said the ability to detect neurological diseases before symptoms appear could give patients and clinicians an opportunity to intervene earlier and potentially improve long-term patient outcomes.

An ideal environment at AIBN

When asked what makes AIBN special, Dr Lobb points to the Institute's unique combination of facilities, expertise and scientific ambition which provides the ideal environment to tackle complex health challenges.

“We have world-class facilities right here at AIBN, which is really unique and gives us the tools we need to do cutting-edge science,” he said.

“What really makes the Institute special is the multidisciplinary environment – a unique mixture of scientists that can generate the next level of science needed to solve complex problems.”

“And it’s a very supportive environment to grow, scientifically. We are positively challenged to think about how we are innovating, creating new tools and technologies to help people.”

Inspired to inspire others

Dr Lobb completed his PhD at QIMR Berghofer with Professor Andreas Moller, later joining AIBN through a synthetic biology fellowship before securing an NHMRC Investigator Fellowship and establishing his own research program.

“At university, a really inspiring biology lecturer ignited my love for science and I started consuming all the science I could.

“Now I’m a lecturer myself, I try to make students really excited and engaged with the science we’re doing because I know what a huge impact it makes.”

Building a collaborative team

As a leader, Dr Lobb aims to foster a collaborative research culture where students and researchers are encouraged to contribute ideas, challenge assumptions and learn from one another.

Rather than directing research from the top down, he believes the strongest ideas emerge through discussion and teamwork.

“The students we have coming into the lab are incredibly smart and I enjoy engaging with their ideas,” he said.

“We debate and challenge those ideas, and through that process develop the best solutions together.”

Harnessing the power of EVs

The blood test is powered by a device called the Phenotype Analyzer Chip developed in the laboratory of ARC Laureate Professor Matt Trau.

The Chip reads tiny biological particles in a patient’s bloodstream called extracellular vesicles.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are communicators within cells.

The Chip detects EVs which get hijacked by cancer and start producing different proteins.

New treatment approaches

“My long-term goal is to understand the biology behind EVs – if we know how they work, we can re-engineer them for therapeutics,” Dr Lobb said.

“EVs have a natural a ‘homing’ ability meaning they preferentially return to specific cell types.

“Just as a homing pigeon uses environmental cues to find its way home, EVs use chemical signals to navigate through the bloodstream back to particular tissues.

“By understanding how they reach those tissues, we can engineer therapeutic vesicles to carry therapeutic cargo directly to diseased cells.

“And creating new tools to treat these diseases, that's more of a long-term vision for which we will need engagement with industry.”