Siok Tey
Dr | Group Leader
Translational Cancer Immunotherapy
+61 7 3362 0402CAREER HISTORY
Dr Siok Tey is a clinician scientist. She is a Group Leader at QIMR Berghofer and a consultant haematologist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, with subspeciality interest in bone marrow transplantation and CAR T cell therapy.
Dr Tey graduated from the University of Queensland Medical School in 1996 with First Class Honours and a University Medal. She completed her training in clinical and laboratory haematology in Brisbane in 2005, then undertook a two-year research fellowship (2005 – 2007) at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, USA. She returned to Australia in 2007 and completed a PhD in viral T cell immunity (2007 – 11), followed by a post-doctorate in bone marrow transplant immunology (2012 – 2016). She has been a laboratory head since 2017.
Dr Tey’s research integrates her expertise in immunology, cell therapy and clinical medicine to understand the biology of cell therapy and bone marrow transplantation, and translate these findings into innovative therapies. She is a leader in genetic engineering of T cells, from basic research through to clinical trials.
Dr Tey was recipient of an NHMRC Early Career Research Fellowship (2013 –2016) and three CIA NHMRC Project Grants. She has published in prestigious journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Science, Nature Immunology, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Investigation and others.
CURRENT APPOINTMENTS
- Group Leader, Translational Cancer Immunotherapy Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer
- Medical Director, Q-Gen Cell Therapeutics, QIMR Berghofer Good Manufacturing Practice facility
- Senior Staff Specialist and Clinical Director of Genetically Modified Cellular Therapies, Department of Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
- Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland
- Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology
- Member of Editorial Board – Clinical & Translational Immunology
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS
2012-2016: Post-doctoral Fellow, Bone Marrow Transplant Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer
2007-2011: PhD scholar, Tumour Immunology Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer
2005-2007: Research Fellow, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
1997-2005: Full-time clinician. Princess Alexandra Hospital and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
ORCID NUMBER
RESEARCHER ID
PUBLICATIONS
To view Dr Tey’s Google Scholar list of publications, click here.
CURRENT AREA OF RESEARCH
- Understanding the biology of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and leukaemia relapse after bone marrow transplantation. My group uses experimental transplantation and clinical sample analysis to understand the biology of bone marrow transplantation. We are especially interested in how viral infection can alter the immune landscape and influence clinical outcomes.
- Understanding the biology of CAR T cell therapy. CAR T cell therapy can cure certain blood cancers but is associated with significant toxicity. We seek to understand how the broader immune contexture drives CAR T cell treatment response and toxicity.
- CAR T cell innovations. CARs are synthetic genes that include an “external” part that can recognise surface markers on cancer cells, and an “internal” part that signals T cell-mediated killing. We study ways to make CAR T cells see other types of cancers, focusing on myeloma and neuroblastoma, and make them more effective. We achieve this by re-engineering the “external” and “internal” parts of the CAR gene.
- Clinical trial of in-house manufactured CAR T cells. We are one of only a few research groups nationally capable of taking our CAR T cell research from the lab to clinical trials. We will continue to build on this pipeline through our own laboratory research and collaboration with clinicians at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and other centres nationally and internationally.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
- 2021–Present:Lead a phase I clinical trial using in-house manufactured CD19 CAR T cells for the treatment of B cell blood cancer. This is currently the only trial of its kind in Australia.
- 2024 – Demonstrate that interleukin-6 signalling during bone marrow transplantation leads to endothelial damage and loss of circulating antibodies. Lead author in Journal of Clinical Investigation.
- 2014–2018:Led an NHMRC-funded phase I clinical trial using gene-modified T cells to make bone marrow transplantation safer by mitigating the risk of Graft-Versus-Host Disease (GVHD). Lead author in Clinical Cancer Research (2019).
- 2011:First-in-human proof-of-concept study showing the effectiveness of iCasp9 as a genetic safety switch in T cells. Joint first-author in New England Journal of Medicine (2011) and first and corresponding author in BBMT (2009).
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
- Co-chair of Stem Cell Transplant Working Party and Member, Australian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group
- Regional Vice President Elect for Australia & New Zealand, International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy
- Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand
- American Society of Hematology
- American Society for Transplantation and Cell Therapy
AWARDS RECOGNITION
2023: Clinical Research Award (Team Leader, CAR T cell Therapy), awarded by Metro North Health
2022: Snowdome Mid-Career Award, awarded by Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand
2021: Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research, awarded by National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia
2021: Chief Executive Award, Metro North Health Research Excellence
2019: Clinician Researcher Fellowship, Metro North Hospital and Health Service
2008: Clinical Research Fellowship, Leukaemia Foundation of Australia
2006: Young Investigator Award, Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand
1996: University Medal and Lilian Cooper Prize for highest grade point average in medical d, University of Queensland.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
2012: PhD, University of Queensland
2005: Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (FRCPA)
2004: Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP)
1996: Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (Honours Class I), University of Queensland