Dr Pavitha Parathan (L) who was awarded the Eliza Wilmot Scholarship, and A/Prof Lisa Mielke, head of the Mucosal Immunity & Cancer Laboratory
Dr Pavitha Parathan, postdoctoral researcher at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, was announced as the first recipient of the Pancare Foundation Eliza Wilmot Scholarship at the Women of Impact event last month.
The Women of Impact breakfast event brought together over 400 purpose-driven business leaders, collectively building momentum and support for vital upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer research.
Doug Hawkins, CEO of Pancare Foundation, says: “This is a significantly underfunded area of research, and we need to act now.”
The Eliza Wilmot Scholarship was created in the name of a young mum who was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer at the age of 36 and tragically passed away last year.
Through this Scholarship, Eliza leaves a legacy that ensures that important upper GI cancer research projects are funded now and into the future, giving other patients more options than were available to her.
This scholarship will enable Dr Pavitha Parathan to advance promising research into upper GI cancer. Developing a new cancer treatment can take decades, from work at the laboratory bench to being tested in clinical trials.
Dr Parathan recently published promising research results confirming that certain nervous system components cause GI cancers to grow and spread, and these nervous system components are already the target of existing approved therapies.
What makes this research unique is that it involves testing the safety and efficacy of these existing treatments in GI cancer, hopefully fast-tracking the time-to-clinical-trial.
Dr Parathan says: “I am incredibly honoured to be the first recipient of the Eliza Wilmot Scholarship. We are excited to make progress on this promising research, and we hope it will create more treatment avenues for patients in the future.”
The Women of Impact event held in Sydney welcomed guests from businesses across different industries and was a wonderful demonstration of interest and support for the cancer research sector.
Par 5 Business is Pancare Foundation’s commercial business program that connects members to exclusive opportunities, fostering partnerships, enabling procurement pathways, and driving measurable business outcomes while generating funding for cancer research.
Speakers at the Women of Impact event included former Prime Minister the Hon Julia Gillard AC, news presenter Sandra Sully AM, ONJCRI’s Chief Operating Officer Dr Christine De Nardo, and a panel of thought-leaders from Cancer Australia, Deakin University and the University of Wollongong.
We look forward to continuing the partnership with Pancare Foundation and Par 5 initiative, and to honouring Eliza Wilmot’s legacy through research that gives patients more hope.
