Dr Veronika Bandara

Research Fellow (B) (with PhD)

School of Biomedicine

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Post-doctoral researcher in molecular biology, with extensive laboratory experience, well developed written and oral communication skills, time management skills, and a strong team spirit. I’m seeking to utilise my knowledge and experience to make a positive contribution in solving health related biological problems.

My Research
Career
Publications
Grants and Funding
Teaching
Supervision
Professional Activities
Contact

Current Projects:

2023-present

Currently, I am playing a lead role in three CAR-T immunotherapy projects.

I am leading the research team testing and validating three new CAR-T targets, including a CAR-T product targeting ovarian cancer.
I am leading the investigation of LGR5 CAR-T cells against deadly neuroblastoma, a paediatric cancer.
I am co-leading the investigation of CAR-T cell therapy for paediatric brain and central nervous system cancers.

2019-2023

I led the development and the initial testing of a CAR-T cell targeting LGR5 (Leucine rich G protein receptor-5) which was funded by Carina Biotech Ltd. LGR5 CAR-T was successfully developed as a therapy for colorectal cancer and has obtained FDA approval for a phase I clinical trial, which started in December 2023 (NCT05759728). I developed and optimized a GMP CAR-T cell manufacturing protocol that routinely generates a large number of LGR5 targeting CAR-T cells with optimal characteristics. The valuable experience and insight gained during this process will be very helpful for future CAR-T cell translational work.

2016-2019

As part of the Cooperative Research Centre for Cell Therapy Manufacturing, I led the development of a novel chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) targeting non-functional P2X7 (nfP2X7) receptor, which is expressed on a wide range of cancers. I played a key role in the development and initial testing of this CAR-T cell. This project has resulted in intellectual property, and I am a joint inventor of the nfP2X7 CAR-T cell design and use patents. The successful development of this CAR-T cell led to the inception of Carina Biotech. This work is published in Nature Communications 2023.

Previous projects: Since joining Molecular Immunology Lab in 2015-2016 Validation of Special AT Rich Binding Protein 1(SATB1) promoter-enhancer interactions in human CD4+ T cells.

SATB1 is highly enriched in T cell lineages where it has multiple roles in T cell lineage commitment and differentiation. We have used a cutting edge molecular biology technique circular chromosome conformation capture- high throughput sequencing (4Cseq) to examine the long-range transcriptional regulation of SATB1. Using our analysis and prioritisation pipeline, we identified several clusters of novel long range interaction between the SATB1 promoter and regions that display active enhancer marks in CD4+ T cells. Critically, these contact regions are proposed to form a special regulatory element termed a super-enhancers in stimulated CD4+Tconv cells, contain FOXP3 binding sites in human regulatory T cells, and are located within autoimmune disease risk loci. We have tested a super enhancer regions in transient transfection assays in Jurkat T cells and find that in the absence of FOXP3 this enhancer region up-regulates the SATB1 promoter in response to stimulation, however this up-regulation is significantly repressed by the co-expression of FOXP3 in these cells in a DNA binding domain dependant manner. Together this data suggests that we have 1) identified a critical regulatory region and 2) identified how non-coding autoimmune-linked sequence variation may function at the molecular level. Currently we are preparing a manuscript to publish this work. These findings will lead to identify molecular mechanisms of how this region functions in healthy individuals and how this function maybe altered by autoimmune linked sequence variation- using primary human cells/ATAC-seq and mouse models

Appointments

Date	Position	Institution name
2016 - ongoing	University Postdoctoral Fellow	University of Adelaide, Adelaide
2016 - ongoing	Postdoctoral Researcher	CRC for Cell Therapy Manufacturing
2015 - 2015	Research Officer	University of Adelaide, Adelaide
2014 - 2015	Research Officer	Flinders University, Adelaide
2006 - 2009	Research Assistant	Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide

Language Competencies

Language Competency

English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review

Sinhala; Sinhalese Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review

Language	Competency
English	Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
Sinhala; Sinhalese	Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review

Education

Date	Institution name	Country	Title
2010 - 2013	Flinders University, Adelaide	Australia	PhD
2008 - 2009	Flinders University, Adelaide	Australia	Bachelor of Science (Hons) (First class)
2003 - 2005	University of South Australia, Adelaide	Australia	Master of Business Administration and Management

Journals

Year	Citation
2024	Bandara, V., Niktaras, V. M., Willett, V. J., Chapman, H., Lokman, N. A., Macpherson, A. M., . . . Ricciardelli, C. (2024). Engineered CAR-T cells targeting the non‐functional P2X purinoceptor 7 (P2X7) receptor as a novel treatment for ovarian cancer. Clinical & Translational Immunology, 13(5), e1512-1-e1512-17. DOI Scopus2
2023	Bandara, V., Foeng, J., Gundsambuu, B., Norton, T. S., Napoli, S., McPeake, D. J., . . . Barry, S. C. (2023). Pre-clinical validation of a pan-cancer CAR-T cell immunotherapy targeting nfP2X7.. Nat Commun, 14(1), 1-17. DOI Scopus12 Europe PMC7
2022	Elsemary, M. T., Maritz, M. F., Smith, L. E., Warkiani, M., Bandara, V., Napoli, S., . . . Thierry, B. (2022). Inertial microfluidic purification of CAR-T-Cell products. Advanced Biology, 6(1), 12 pages. DOI Scopus7 WoS1 Europe PMC2
2020	Brown, C. Y., Sadlon, T., Hope, C. M., Wong, Y. Y., Wong, S., Liu, N., . . . Barry, S. C. (2020). Molecular Insights Into Regulatory T-Cell Adaptation to Self, Environment, and Host Tissues: Plasticity or Loss of Function in Autoimmune Disease. Frontiers in Immunology, 11(September), 1-17. DOI Scopus14 WoS9 Europe PMC12
2018	Sadlon, T., Brown, C. Y., Bandara, V., Hope, C. M., Schjenken, J. E., Pederson, S. M., . . . Barry, S. C. (2018). Unravelling the molecular basis for regulatory T-cell plasticity and loss of function in disease. Clinical and Translational Immunology, 7(2), e1011-1-e1011-15. DOI Scopus25 WoS16 Europe PMC15
2017	Bandara, K. V., Michael, M. Z., & Gleadle, J. M. (2017). MicroRNA Biogenesis in Hypoxia. MicroRNA, 6(2), 80-96. DOI Scopus44 Europe PMC29
2014	Bandara, V., Michael, M., & Gleadle, J. (2014). Hypoxia represses microRNA biogenesis proteins in breast cancer cells. BMC Cancer, 14(1), 1-18. DOI Scopus37 WoS32 Europe PMC26
2010	Bandara, V., Weinstein, S. A., White, J., & Eddleston, M. (2010). A review of the natural history, toxinology, diagnosis and clinical management of Nerium oleander (common oleander) and Thevetia peruviana (yellow oleander) poisoning. Toxicon, 56(3), 273-281. DOI Scopus181 WoS119 Europe PMC64

Conference Papers

Year	Citation
2024	Foeng, J., Tyllis, T., Abbott, C., McPeake, D., Thompson, E., Bandara, V., . . . McColl, S. (2024). Preclinical in vivo characterization underpinning LGR5-targeting CAR-T cells as a cancer immunotherapy. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 84 (pp. 2 pages). CA, San Diego: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. DOI
2023	Bandara, V., Gundsambuu, B., Napoli, S., Foeng, J., McPeake, D., Tylis, T., . . . Barry, S. (2023). From bench to bedside: GMP manufacturing and testing of an LGR5-targeting CAR-T against colorectal cancer. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 84 (pp. 2 pages). CA, San Diego: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. DOI
2023	Tyllis, T., Abbott, C., McPeake, D., Foeng, J., Bandara, V., Gundsambuu, B., . . . McColl, S. (2023). Development of a flow cytometry-based assay for measuring specific CAR expression on LGR5-targeting CAR-T cells. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 83 (pp. 2 pages). Orlando, FL: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. DOI
2023	Bandara, V., Gundsambuu, B., Napoli, S., Mills, S., Thompson, E., Tan, L., . . . Barry, S. C. (2023). Development and in vitro validation of an LGR-5 targeting CAR-T against colorectal cancer. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 83 (pp. 2 pages). Orlando, FL: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. DOI
2023	McPeake, D., Tyllis, T., Abbott, C., Foeng, J., Bandara, V., Gundsambuu, B., . . . McColl, S. (2023). In vivo efficacy of LGR5-targeting CAR-T cell therapies developed for the treatment of colorectal cancer. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 83 (pp. 2 pages). Orlando, FL: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. DOI
2023	Thompson, E. J., Bandara, V., Gundsambuu, B., Napoli, S., Mills, S., Foeng, J., . . . Bonder, C. S. (2023). Assessing LGR5 expression levels on colorectal cancer tissue samples for use in LGR5-targeting CAR-T cell therapy clinical trial. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 83 (pp. 2 pages). Orlando, FL: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. DOI
2022	Rad, E. R., Foeng, J., McPeak, D., Tyllis, T., Abbott, C., Bandara, V., . . . McColl, S. (2022). ADAM10-targeting CAR-T cells inhibit colon cancer cell growth <i>in vivo</i>. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 2 pages). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
2022	Wang, W., Bandara, V., Lokman, N., Napoli, S., Gundsambuu, B., Oehler, M., . . . Ricciardelli, C. (2022). LGR5 CAR-T cells: A novel potential treatment against high grade serous ovarian cancer.. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 2 pages). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
2022	Bandara, V., Mills, S., Thompson, E., Tan, L., Gundsambuu, B., Napoli, S., . . . Barry, S. (2022). Pre-clinical validation of a LGR5-targeting CAR-T against colorectal cancer.. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 1 page). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
2022	Thompson, E. J., Bandara, V., Sadlon, T., Gundsambuu, B., Tan, L. Y., Ricciardelli, C., . . . Bonder, C. S. (2022). Real-time cytotoxicity assays as a pre-clinical screening tool for LGR5-targeting CAR-T cells for treatment of solid tumors. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 1 page). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
2022	Thompson, E. J., Bandara, V., Sadlon, T., Gundsambuu, B., Tan, L. Y., Ricciardelli, C., . . . Bonder, C. S. (2022). Real-time cytotoxicity assays as a pre-clinical screening tool for LGR5-targeting CAR-T cells for treatment of solid tumors.. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 1 page). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
2022	McPeake, D. J., Tyllis, T. S., Foeng, J., Bandara, V., Abbott, C. A., Gundsambuu, B., . . . McColl, S. R. (2022). <i>In vivo</i> characterization of a novel CAR-T cell therapy directed towards LGR5 for the treatment of colorectal cancer.. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 2 pages). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
2022	McPeake, D. J., Tyllis, T. S., Foeng, J., Bandara, V., Abbott, C. A., Gundsambuu, B., . . . McColl, S. R. (2022). In <i>vivo</i> characterization of a novel CAR-T cell therapy directed towards LGR5 for the treatment of colorectal cancer. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 2 pages). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
2022	Bandara, V., Mills, S., Thompson, E., Tan, L., Gundsambuu, B., Napoli, S., . . . Barry, S. (2022). Pre-clinical validation of a LGR5-targeting CAR-T against colorectal cancer. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 1 page). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
2022	Wang, W., Bandara, V., Lokman, N., Napoli, S., Gundsambuu, B., Oehler, M., . . . Ricciardelli, C. (2022). LGR5 CAR-T cells: A novel potential treatment against high grade serous ovarian cancer. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 2 pages). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.
2022	Rad, E. R., Foeng, J., McPeak, D., Tyllis, T., Abbott, C., bandara, V., . . . McColl, S. (2022). ADAM10-targeting CAR-T cells inhibit colon cancer cell growth <i>in vivo</i>.. In CANCER RESEARCH Vol. 82 (pp. 2 pages). LA, New Orleans: AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH.

Conference Items

Year	Citation
2024	Wang, W. J., Bandara, V., Lokman, N. A., Price, Z. K. K., Noye, T. M., Napoli, S., . . . Ricciardelli, C. (2024). CAR-T cells targeting LGR5: An effective treatment for chemotherapy resistant ovarian cancer. Poster session presented at the meeting of Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting (AACR, 2024) as published in Cancer Research. San Diego, California: American Association for Cancer Research. DOI

Year

Citation

2024

Wang, W. J., Bandara, V., Lokman, N. A., Price, Z. K. K., Noye, T. M., Napoli, S., . . . Ricciardelli, C. (2024). CAR-T cells targeting LGR5: An effective treatment for chemotherapy resistant ovarian cancer. Poster session presented at the meeting of Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting (AACR, 2024) as published in Cancer Research. San Diego, California: American Association for Cancer Research.
DOI

(2024-2026) CIB WCH foundation Bloom grant: CAR-T therapy for brain and central nervous system cancers ($1.8 million).
(2024-2025) CIA Channel 7 children’s research foundation grant: LGR5 targeting CAR-T cells against deadly neuroblastoma, a paediatric cancer ($100,000).
(2024) CIC Beat cancer Ovarian cancer grant ($ 84,000)
(2017-2024) Novel CAR-T cell development funded by Carina Biotech

I am very interested in contributing to building up the future generation of scientists. I am currently co-supervising and mentoring three PhD students working on CAR-T cell related projects.

Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Date	Role	Research Topic	Program	Degree Type	Student Load	Student Name
2024	Co-Supervisor	Investigating dual targeting CAR-T cells for the treatment of brain tumours	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Miss Abbey Rose Marshall
2022	Co-Supervisor	Optimisation of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells for Pan Solid Tumour Immunotherapy	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Mr Jieren Zheng

Presentation

Date	Topic	Presented at	Institution	Country
2019 - 2019	In vitro and in vivo evaluation of non-functional P2X7 protein (nfP2X7) as a CAR T target for the treatment of solid tumours.	Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology	University of Adelaide	Australia

Position: Research Fellow (B) (with PhD)
Email: veronika.bandara@adelaide.edu.au
Campus: Womens & Childrens Hospital
Building: WCH - Clarence Rieger Building, floor 2
Org Unit: Medical Sciences