SMART CRC partners with Chris O’Brien Lifehouse to accelerate innovations to reshape cancer recovery
For patients facing cancer, restorative care is as important as curative treatment to ensure long-term quality of life.
At Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, clinicians and researchers are rethinking how reconstructive oncology is delivered, moving beyond one‑size‑fits‑all solutions toward tailored therapies designed for each individual.
Through a partnership with the SMART CRC, these innovations are being accelerated out of the lab and into the clinic, turning highly personalised, next‑generation reconstruction into scalable, patient‑ready solutions that have the potential to reshape recovery after cancer.
The challenge
Chris O’Brien Lifehouse is addressing key sector‑wide barriers in reconstructive oncology by improving access, efficiency, precision, and personalisation of care.
Reconstructive oncology is an essential component of comprehensive cancer care, sitting at the intersection of surgical reconstruction and active cancer treatment.
It requires simultaneous optimisation of anatomical precision, biological integration and function, and compatibility with ongoing cancer therapy.
Traditional reconstructive oncology is limited by high surgical complexity and duration, autologous tissue transfer and donor-site morbidity, intraoperative adaptation of generic devices and lack of personalisation, variable functional/aesthetic outcomes, and increased complication risks — particularly in the setting of adjuvant cancer therapy.
Chris O’Brien Lifehouse Biomedical Innovation Director Professor Jeremy Crook said:
“Lifehouse possesses clinical expertise and in-house technological capabilities for advanced “next generation solutions” (such as, customised implants with longer-lasting bio functional performance) for oncological reconstruction”.
“Additive manufacturing is a key enabling technology being used at Lifehouse to replace “one‑size‑fits‑all” solutions with tailored devices that better fit complex post‑oncologic defects, enhancing outcomes and reducing the need for revision surgery.”
“By partnering with the SMART CRC, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse will expedite its innovations to commercially viable, patient ready therapies.”
The response needed
Many medical innovations fail in the “valley of death” between proof‑of‑concept and scalable, market‑ready products due to cost, complexity, and lack of manufacturing or regulatory readiness.
“To ensure our technologies reach patients, they need to be de-risked to reduce uncertainty about manufacturing, scale-up, regulatory readiness, industry alignment and commercialisation.”
Why partner with Smart CRC
By facilitating early and sustained engagement with industry partners, collaborative research partners, and regulatory and commercialisation expertise, the SMART CRC will assist Lifehouse with de-risking the pathway to translation — transforming our bespoke, site-specific innovations into reproducible, clinically deployable solutions that can be widely implemented at scale, both nationally and globally.
The outcome and impact
Building strong stakeholder confidence will accelerate the translation of tailored technologies toward first-in-human trials and industry uptake, ultimately delivering patient impact and advancing reconstructive oncology toward more accessible, personalised, and patient-centred care.
Thank you to key Chris O’Brien Lifehouse contributors
- Professor Jeremy Crook (Biomedical Engineering Lead; Director of Biomedical Innovation)
- Professor Jonathan Clark (Clinical Lead, Director of Head and Neck Research)
- Dr Eva Tomaskovic-Crook (Senior Research Scientist – Biomedical Innovation)
- Mr William Lewin (Additive Manufacturing Specialist – Biomedical Innovation)