2025 ANZSA Sarcoma Research Grant Recipient - Dr Paul Daniel

Introducing Dr Paul Daniel, one of the two ANZSA sarcoma research grant recipients of 2025. Paul has received funding from ANZSA to fund his project, evaluating:"Development of CD70 targeted antibody-drug conjugates for sarcomas"

Paul is a postdoctoral fellow specializing in low-survival adult and paediatric brain cancers. He previously worked as an international postdoctoral fellow at McGill University (Canada), leading multiple projects focused on understanding tumour evolution following treatment. Since 2019, he has served as the lead postdoctoral fellow for the Childhood Cancer Model Atlas (CCMA)—a global initiative spanning 10 countries and 35 research partnerships. This program represents the largest effort to compile and characterize living models of rare, high-risk childhood cancers, enabling researchers worldwide to accelerate therapeutic discovery. To date, their work has identified hundreds of novel therapeutic avenues for these devastating diseases.

About the project: 

Sarcomas are a group of rare and aggressive cancers that can affect people of all ages. Unfortunately, treatment has largely stagnated for the past few decades and survival has remained dismal for many aggressive types of sarcoma. My project builds on a large international collaboration called the Childhood Cancer Model Atlas (CCMA), which brings together lab-grown models of childhood cancers to help us study how these cancers work and find new treatment options. Using this resource, I identified a protein which is highly expressed in a type of bone sarcoma called chordoma. With support from this sarcoma research grant, I plan to develop a type of drug called an antibody-drug conjugate which enables better delivery of effective therapies to cancer cells. Ultimately, my research aims uses a sarcoma focused approach to develop novel therapies against this devastating disease.