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Dr Ben Dwyer

Senior Research Fellow
Curtin Medical School

Organoid Lab

My interest in liver biology began during my undergraduate studies at the University of Western Australia, where Professor George Yeoh first introduced me to the field and sparked a passion that continues to shape my career.

A pivotal period at the University of Edinburgh allowed me to contribute across the full therapeutic pipeline, from fundamental research to clinical translation and commercialisation. This experience reinforced my focus on ensuring that discoveries in the laboratory translate meaningfully into patient outcomes.

Working closely with organisations such as the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Australia, and previously AMMF in the United Kingdom, has kept that purpose front of mind. Liver cancers, including cholangiocarcinoma, still have limited treatment options and poor patient outcomes, underscoring the urgent need for more effective therapies.

I have always been driven by a desire to understand how things work and to apply that knowledge to improve them. Cancer biology brings these instincts together. Tumours have a remarkable ability to reshape their environment to support their own growth, and understanding how to disrupt this process presents both a compelling scientific challenge and an opportunity for real impact. A central focus of my work is ensuring that what we observe in the laboratory truly reflects what happens in patients. Bridging this gap is at the heart of everything we do.

About

Dr Benjamin Dwyer is a translational cancer researcher driven by a clear purpose: to ensure discoveries made in the laboratory genuinely improve outcomes for patients. Based at Curtin University, he established and now leads the organoid platform within the Liver Cancer Collaborative and directs the WA Organoid Innovation Hub, working at the intersection of biology, medicine and biotechnology to accelerate new treatments for liver cancer.

After completing his PhD in Perth, Dr Dwyer joined the world-leading liver research group of Prof Stuart Forbes at the University of Edinburgh, where he contributed to research spanning fundamental biology, clinical trials and commercial translation in cholangiocarcinoma and liver cirrhosis. He was part of the founding team of a biotechnology spinout created to translate this work, and the therapeutic strategy built on those early methods is now progressing through clinical testing.

Today, as part of the Liver Cancer Collaborative his research focuses on building patient-derived “mini tumours” for drug development that better predict treatment response, narrowing the gap between laboratory models and real patient outcomes.
  •  Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA)
  • Australiasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group (AGITG): Translational research committee member
  • Editorial Board: Cancer Letters
  • 2024: FHRI Fund Innovative Solutions Digital Health (Winteringham, Donnellan, Wallace, Dwyer, Tirnitz-Parker, Leedman, Carter, Russell, Anderson, Cavill)- Building a clinical tool to deliver a precision medicine approach for liver cancer: $499, 723
  • FHRI Fund Enabling Scheme (CIA)- WA Organoid Innovation Hub: $501,175
  • 2023: GESA Project Grant (CIA): Data-based prediction of ideal extracellular culture environment to enable PDO technology in clinical decision making for liver cancer. $50,000
  • FHRI Fund Innovation Seed Grant (Co-investigator; CIA Leedman)- $499,750
  • Curtinnovation Awards (Student Prize; Team Eccles, Dwyer, Verdile): Macromop
  • 2022: -Ian Potter Foundation Medical Research Grant (CIA): Perkinelmer Operetta for High Content Imaging: $230,000

Email: Ben.Dwyer@curtin.edu.au
Tel: +61 (08) 9266 2738
ORCID
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Curtin Staff Profile

Research Focus

Dr Ben Dwyer’s research focuses on developing new and more effective treatments for liver cancer, with a particular emphasis on cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. His work centres on the use of patient derived organoids to model tumours in the laboratory and assess their response to potential therapies, with the aim of advancing personalised treatment strategies.


A major focus of his research is the development of precision medicine platforms that integrate organoid technology with precision bioprinting and high content imaging. These platforms are designed to more accurately replicate the complexity of individual tumours and enable efficient testing and prioritisation of therapies, helping to accelerate the delivery of the most promising treatments to patients.


Based at the Curtin Medical Research Institute within the WA Organoid Innovation Hub, Dr Dwyer conducts his research in a collaborative environment that combines expertise in organoid biology, data science and RNA therapeutics to support translational drug discovery. His work also extends to triple negative breast cancer, where he applies the same organoid based approaches in collaboration with RNA therapeutics researchers to investigate new treatment options.


Through national and international collaborations, his research spans the full continuum from understanding disease biology to developing and testing novel therapies, with a clear focus on improving outcomes for patients who currently have limited treatment options.

Research Team

Dr Gayatri Shirolkar

Research Associate

Jennifer Shen

PhD Student

Gabriel Rapanero

PhD Student

Publications

ABSTRACT

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a cancer that originates within the bile ducts. Traditionally considered to be a rare neoplasm, increased awareness of CCA alongside advancements in diagnosis and the rising prevalence of certain risk factors have contributed to a global increase in incidence and mortality. CCAs are highly heterogeneous from the clinical, histomorphological and molecular perspectives but commonly share a poor prognosis. These tumours usually develop and progress silently; by the time they are detected, it is often too late for curative surgical intervention. In such cases, current therapeutic approaches offer modest survival improvements and are generally considered palliative. Although well-known risk factors predispose individuals to developing CCA, the majority of cases are considered sporadic, occurring without any identifiable underlying condition. Over the past decade, substantial collaborative efforts have been made to improve our understanding of the aetiopathogenesis of these tumours, aiming to identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets to develop more effective treatments. The ultimate goal is to improve patient outcomes and overall well-being. However, there are significant gaps in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that drive cholangiocarcinogenesis. In this international Consensus Statement, which is endorsed by the European Network for the Study of Cholangiocarcinoma, we provide a critical overview of the latest advancements in the field of CCA. We highlight the key aspects of CCA aetiopathogenesis and clinical management and provide insights into promising new treatments. Finally, we provide a set of consensus recommendations and future research priorities for CCA based on a Delphi panel questionnaire involving international experts.

Banales, J. M., P. M. Rodrigues, S. Affò, J. B. Andersen, P. Aspichueta, L. Boulter, J. Bridgewater, D. F. Calvisi, A. Cardenas, V. Cardinale, and 90 more contributors. 2026. Cholangiocarcinoma 2026: status quo, unmet needs and priorities.Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology 23 (1): 65-96.
Carlessi, R., T. J. Kendall, J. K. Olynyk, B. J. Dwyer, M. C. Wallace, J. A. Fallowfield, and J. E. Tirnitz-Parker. 2026. Disease-associated hepatocytes are predictive of outcomes and survival in MASLD beyond fibrosis staging.Gut 75 (3): 668-670.

Liver Cancer & Patient-derived Tumour Organoids

Dr BenDwyer

FHRI Recipient 2025

Dr Ben Dwyer

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