Freya Weth, BSc, BBiomedSc (Hons)

Freya began her PhD at the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute because she wants cancer treatment to be more affordable and accessible for those afflicted by it. Freya is committed to cancer research and thinks our team and environment, with knowledgeable scientists and warm and friendly individuals, is a great fit. She is excited to learn all she can and use our state-of-the-art facilities. 

Freya joined Gillies McIndoe in 2022 as a PhD student on the Graham Langridge Scholarship and the Victoria University of Wellington Doctoral Scholarship, focusing on using glioblastoma organoids (lab-grown mini-brains with glioblastoma) to identify novel pathways involved in repurposed drug treatments.

Freya will essentially grow organoids (mini-brains) from patient tumour tissue. She will treat these mini-brains with glioblastoma tumours with a suite of different repurposed drugs. This involves taking an existing drug and using it to treat a medical condition different from what it was originally developed to treat. Freya's work will identify whether cancer cells and healthy cells live or die upon treatment and assess how the tumours respond by looking at how protein expression differs across different drug treatments. This will help us better understand how glioblastoma invades so aggressively, as this is currently unknown.  

Freya’s primary research focus is the use of repurposed drugs to treat glioblastomas. The benefit of testing repurposed drugs can’t be understated. The benefit of using repurposed drugs for her project means that these drugs have already been tested for safety and cleared for use in humans (having undergone prior clinical trials), so they’re accessible and safe. These drugs are also often off-patent, which means they can be cost-friendly. Both Freya and the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute have a goal of making cancer treatment more accessible and affordable, and this is what the testing of repurposed drugs against different cancers may achieve.  

Freya graduated with a BSc from Massey University in 2020, then did a BBiomedSc(Hons) at the University of Otago, New Zealand, in 2021. Freya worked as an Assistant Research Fellow in the department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Otago before beginning her PhD through the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, in 2022. Since joining the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute, she has published three papers with a fourth on the way. 

Outside of work, Freya enjoys going to the gym, horse riding, surfing, and hanging out with friends.

Grants and Scholarships:

• Gillies McIndoe Research Institute Graham Langridge Scholarship

• Victoria University of Wellington Doctoral Scholarship

Achievements & Awards:

• Finalist for the Medicines NZ, Value of Medicines Innovation Jump Start Award, 2024

• Oral Presentation at the NZ Aotearoa Neuro-Oncology Society (NANOS) Conference, 2024

• Poster Presentation at the NZ Aotearoa Neuro-Oncology Society (NANOS) Conference, 2023

• Oral Presentation at the Wellington Cancer Society, 2022

• Oral Presentation at the Wellington Hospital Department of Paediatrics Seminar, 2022

• University of Otago Wellington Biomedical Science Summer Research Scholarship, 2021

• Poster Presentation at Queenstown Research Week, 2021

• Victoria University of Wellington Graduate Award for postgraduate study in Biomedical Sciences, 2021

• Massey University Scholar, 2021

• Massey University School of Fundamental Sciences Summer Scholarship in Genetics, 2019

• Massey University Vice-Chancellors High-Achievers Scholarship (Academic), 2018

 Community Science Communication:

• Guest Speaker, Wellington East Girls' College, 2023

• Guest Speaker, Nga Tawa Diocesan School, 2023

• Tour Guide, Open Day lab tours, Gillies McIndoe Research Institute, 2022 – Present

• Contributor, Social Media Science Communication, Gillies McIndoe Research Institute, 2023 – Present