Professor Wendy Erber
Haematologist, Royal Perth Hospital
Research Overview
Professor Erber's vision is to develop a precision diagnostics program focusing on the most common blood cancers affecting Australians. This is the first and essential step to improve outcomes, as without an accurate diagnosis, incorrect treatments are given.
Although this may seem obvious, haematologists have a diagnostic error rate of up to 25%. Without an accurate diagnosis patients will be deprived optimal therapy, leading to ongoing unacceptable high death rates. My research therefore aims to achieve the following:
- Precise diagnoses are essential, so that optimal treatments are given;
- Precise monitoring to identify changes indicating disease recurrence or progression necessitating a change from “watch and wait” to “act and treat”; and,
- Precise data analysis is crucial to ensure accurate results are provided to support patient care.