Caroline Drinkwater

Caroline Drinkwater is the Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation (ALCCRF) Senior Biobank Specialist for the Hudson Monash Paediatric Precision Medicine (HMPPM) Program.

In the collaborative HMPPM Program, scientists at Hudson Institute have established a ‘Living Biobank’ of childhood brain/CNS and solid cancers – including living organoids or lab-grown ‘mini-tumours’ – to trial and develop targeted treatments and improve clinical outcomes, survival rates and quality of life (limiting side-effects) for childhood cancer patients.

As the ALCCRF Biobank Specialist, Caroline brings technical and operational knowledge to the development of the ‘Living Biobank’ platform at Hudson Institute and oversees all biobanking activities for the HMPPM Program.  Additionally, Caroline coordinates the Monash Children’s Cancer Biobank, led by Dr Peter Downie at Monash Children’s Hospital.

Caroline represents Hudson Institute as a Site Coordinator for the collaborative membership with the Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) in Philadelphia, US. She is also an active member for the Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology/Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) Biobanking Network, representing the Monash Children’s Cancer Biobank.