SurgiCAL ProtEomics Laboratory (SCALPEL)
Institute for Health innova􀆟on and technology (iHealthtech)
National University of Singapore.

Assoc Prof Glenn Kunnath Bonney is an established liver/pancreas and transplant surgeon
with research interests in both the scientific and clinical arenas. He started the SurgiCAL
ProtEomics Laboratory (SCALPEL) in February 2018 in the Institute for Health innovation and
technology (iHealthtech), NUS. The lab aims to translate scientific breakthroughs into
tangible improvements in patient outcomes, with an emphasis on pancreatic ductal
adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Using a multidisciplinary
approach of combining the two main capabilities in SCALPEL, Assoc Prof Glenn’s team uses
both organoids and proteomics technology to develop novel personalised therapy for
patients.
To improve therapeutic outcomes for PDAC patients, he has been working on culturing
malignant tissue obtained directly from patients through biopsies and resections to generate
primary patient-derived organoids (PDOs) of PDAC. Organoids composed of different cell
types and organized in a manner similar to their natural counterparts, have emerged as
excellent preclinical models for cancer research. Using in-house generated PDAC PDOs, his
laboratory is focused on performing patient specific in-vitro chemotherapeutic drug
screening to identify the most effective drug combination for each patient, potentially
greatly improving individual response with minimal toxicity. In addition to drug screening,
proteomic profiles of the PDOs also gives rise to the potential for novel proteomic biomarker
discovery and neoantigen identification for cancer vaccine development.
In 2019, Assoc Prof Glenn signed a landmark research collaboration agreement with Bruker,
expanding SCALPEL’s proteomic capabilities with state-of-the art mass spectrometry (MS)
technologies such as rapifleX® for the development of MS tissue imaging and proteomics
platiorms. SCALPEL provides MALDI-MSI services to several academic and industrial labs,
assisting others in pushing the boundaries of science.

 

For more information and contact, please visit our website at
(https://surgicalproteomics.wixsite.com/scalpel)