Congratulations to Associate Professor Arutha Kulasinghe, Scientific Director of the Queensland Spatial Biology Centre and The Brazil Family Chair in Spatial Medicine at The University of Queensland and Wesley Research Institute, for winning the 2026 Research Australia UNSW Frontiers Award.
The Frontiers Award by Research Australia honors innovative health and medical research that transforms discoveries into clinical practice.
Associate Professor Arutha Kulasinghe was recognised for his leadership of The Cancer Blueprint project, which combines advanced spatial profiling technology capable of analysing more than 18,000 genes simultaneously with purpose-built AI models. This pioneering work has established Australia’s first spatial precision oncology framework. While traditional cancer research can identify which molecules are present within a tumour, this breakthrough goes a step further by revealing where those molecules are located and how their surrounding cellular environments influence treatment response, resistance, and outcomes.
Built on multi-omic tissue atlases spanning lung, breast, skin, and head and neck cancers, this approach generates highly precise spatial biomarker signatures — structural maps that empower clinicians to predict how a patient will respond to therapy before a single drug is administered, ending the costly era of clinical trial-and-error in cancer care. Backed by a global partnership with Microsoft Research on virtual patient modelling, this discovery sets a new international standard for targeted cancer care.
I’m absolutely thrilled to be nominated for this year’s Frontiers Award, recognising our team’s efforts in understanding the personal lives of cancer cells in the Cancer Blueprint Program.
Associate Professor Arutha Kulasinghe.
This work is redefining the standards for targeted cancer care and advancing research that focuses on highly personalised treatment strategies tailored to each individual patient. Congratulations to A/Prof Kulasinghe and his wider team across the Queensland Spatial Biology Centre and The University of Queensland.
Associate Professor Arutha Kulasinghe was nominated by Professor John Fraser AO and lung cancer advocate Michel Itel.
Learn more about the work of the Queensland Spatial Biology Centre.
