Prof Kum Kum Khanna heads the Signal Transduction Laboratory at the QIMR Berghofer Institute of Medical Research. She is best known for her work in understanding cellular DNA damage response (DDR) pathways and their link with cancer initiation and progression. Several genes involved in the DNA damage response (DDR) pathways when functionally compromised can contribute to breast cancer formation. Paradoxically, many conventional cancer treatments exploit inherent faults in the regulation of cell cycle, DDR and chromosomal stability present in tumour cells for therapeutic gains. The underlying theme of our research program is to understand the role of the genome maintenance pathways in normal tissue homeostasis and in disease - in particular breast cancer. In addition, we are investigating how to exploit dysregulation of these pathways in cancers with p53 mutations to develop new-targeted therapeutic approaches.