A laboratory in south-east Melbourne is now the global hub for medical researchers looking to cure childhood cancer.

Children's cancers are not like adult cancers - the same drugs often do not work and the pharmaceutical industry invests a tiny fraction of its funds into kids' treatments. 

But a new facility, located at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, contains the Childhood Cancer Model Atlas (CCMA), the world’s largest collection of high-risk paediatric cancer cell lines, providing a unique, open-source facility to cancer researchers worldwide.

The resource was developed thanks to generous funding from the Children’s Cancer Foundation, and active collaborations with 35 cancer research institutes, universities and academic medical centres. It is now available for every paediatric oncologist and childhood cancer researcher worldwide.

The story of the CCMA features in the latest edition of scientific journal, Cancer Cell.