Dr. Amr H. Allam at a scientific conference.

About

Dr. Amr H. Allam

Senior Translational Cancer Researcher — WEHI, Melbourne

Veterinarian by training, cancer immunologist by calling — discovery at the bench, precision at the microscope, personalised medicine at the bedside.

I'm a translational cancer scientist working where immunology, imaging, and artificial intelligence meet. My career has followed a single thread: understand why the immune system fails to clear cancer, then engineer ways to tip the balance back — through new drugs, sharper diagnostics, and smarter use of the data hidden inside tumor tissue.

Trained as a veterinarian in Alexandria, I earned an MRes in Medical and Veterinary Microbiology with Distinction at Glasgow and a PhD in Cancer Immunology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Along the way I've worked at the Garvan and Beatson institutes, served as lead scientist on a national clinical trial spanning 16 institutes, and built spatial-omics and AI pipelines used to decide which patients an immunotherapy is most likely to help.

Today I serve as lead scientist on a national clinical trial operating across 16 institutions, and contribute the tumor-immunology biology to a multi-team, industry-partnered drug-discovery program at WEHI in collaboration with Servier. Alongside the science, I have built the analytical infrastructure these programs require — from AI-driven digital pathology pipelines to a custom clinical analysis platform — and have navigated the full arc from hypothesis to investor pitch, early-stage IP, and international partnership. I have presented this work in Vienna, Paris, Basel, and the UAE, and I am committed to research that does not stop at the paper: work that becomes a treatment, a test, or a tool that someone in a clinic can actually use.

Experience

  1. 2026–

    Senior Translational Cancer Researcher

    WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute), Melbourne

    Drives the tumor-immunology biology workstream within a multi-team, industry-partnered drug-discovery program in collaboration with Servier, and contributes spatial biology and AI-based approaches to precision-oncology translation.

  2. 2023–2026

    Senior Postdoctoral Researcher

    Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI)

    Led a national multi-institute clinical trial and directed spatial-omics and AI digital pathology pipelines for precision-oncology diagnostics.

  3. 2020–2023

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI)

    Built spatial-omics and AI-driven digital pathology pipelines for tumor immunology and precision-oncology diagnostics.

  4. 2017–2025

    Teaching Associate

    Swinburne University of Technology

    Taught and mentored undergraduate students across cell and molecular biology subjects.

  5. 2016–2020

    PhD Candidate, Cancer Immunology

    Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

    Studied T-cell development and the immunological synapse during beta-selection using advanced multiplex imaging.

  6. 2014–2016

    Research Assistant

    Garvan Institute of Medical Research

    Investigated tumor microenvironment, stromal remodelling, and metastasis in pancreatic and breast cancer models.

  7. 2012–2014

    Research Intern

    Beatson Institute / University of Glasgow

    Conducted research internships in medical and veterinary microbiology and cancer cell biology.

Education

  • PhD, Cancer Immunology Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
    2016–2020
  • MRes, Medical and Veterinary Microbiology (Distinction) University of Glasgow
    2011–2012
  • Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine Alexandria University
    2005–2010

Current Affiliations

  • Senior Researcher
  • Honorary Research Fellow
  • Honorary Scientist
  • Adjunct Research Associate

Memberships