Prof Kum Kum Khanna

Professor Kum Kum Khanna is a Professorial Research Fellow at Mater Research and The University of Queensland. Prof Khanna’s research focuses on mechanisms that safeguard the integrity of our DNA, emphasising DNA damage response (DDR) pathways that fix the lesions in DNA. These pathways provide fundamental knowledge as to how a living cell functions and have implications for tissue development/aging, to understand cancer initiation/progression and to clinically predict novel therapeutic opportunities for cancer patients. Her groundbreaking discoveries have included identifying novel regulators of DDR, cell division cycle and uncovering connections between ATM and other cancer-related genes, such as BRCA1 and p53.

Prof Khanna’s research has not only expanded the understanding of cancer biology but has also paved the way for innovative treatment strategies. By exploiting DNA repair deficiencies in cancer cells, she has spearheaded efforts to develop targeted therapies that hold immense promise for improving patient outcomes in aggressive forms of breast and ovarian cancers.

Profile: https://www.materresearch.org.au/researchers/our-researchers/find-a-researcher/prof-kum-kum-khanna