Ms Chelsea Mayoh is a PhD Student at the Children's Cancer Institute
Ms Chelsea Mayoh is an exceptional PhD candidate at Children’s Cancer Institute, UNSW Sydney, whose pioneering research in paediatric cancer genomics is transforming precision oncology in Australia.
Chelsea leads the Bioinformatics team at Children’s Cancer Institute and is Computational Transcriptomics Leader for ZERO Childhood Cancer (ZERO),Australia’s national child cancer personalised medicine program, which is enabling every child and young person with cancer in Australia to have tailored therapy targeting the specific genetic and biological characteristics of their individual tumour. Chelsea has personally developed and implemented innovative multi-omics pipelines that have enabled identification of actionable molecular targets in over 2,800 children with cancer. Her work has directly contributed toa doubling of survival rates for children with the highest-risk cancers who have received ZERO precision-guided therapy and has led to new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches now adopted nationally.
Chelsea’s research has uncovered novel biomarkers and immune signatures, including the development of a paediatric-specific immune profiling tool now used to guide international immunotherapy clinical trials. She has 88 publications in leading journals including Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics and Genome Medicine, been a Chief Investigator on highly competitive grants attracting >$10M since 2021, and her contributions have been recognised through numerous national awards, including being named one of Australia’s Top 100 Innovators and runner-up in the AIPS Next Generation Florey Awards in 2024.
Beyond her research, Chelsea is a national leader in bioinformatics education and collaboration, mentoring junior scientists, convening major scientific meetings, and advocating for equity and innovation in cancer care.
Information about the award
The Rising Star PhD Candidate Award honours an exceptional PhD Candidate who is making significant progress in their research and is showing the potential to make an impact in any field of cancer research.
