A two-decade long commitment to reducing blood cancers has delivered coveted national funding to Associate Professor Jenny Wang to progress her vital cancer research.
As the head of the Kolling Institute’s Cancer and Stem Cell Laboratory, Associate Professor Wang has secured a $2.95 million investigator grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council to advance her pioneering research into acute myeloid leukaemia.
Jenny said she was overwhelmed by the grant success.
“It was thrilled to hear the news,” she said.
“To secure a large National Health and Medical Research Council grant is challenging, so I’m really pleased to be able to accelerate our research with this significant funding boost.”
Acute myeloid leukaemia is the deadliest form of blood cancer, with only 27 per cent of patients surviving more than five years after treatment.
“Our research aims to revolutionize treatment by targeting leukaemia stem cells,” she said.
“These cells are resistant to conventional chemotherapy, and are believed to be the primary cause of treatment failure and relapse.
“Currently, more than 80 per cent of people with this type of blood cancer will experience a relapse, and the majority will have a poor outcome.
“Our research is working to develop stem cell-targeted therapies where we eliminate the leukaemia stem cells altogether.
“Encouragingly, this would potentially replace intensive chemotherapy with more targeted treatments.
“This wonderful funding boost will enable my team and I to progress these promising new therapies and offer hope to people with this aggressive cancer.
“We expect this funding will lead to renewed optimism for improved outcomes in the fight against acute myeloid leukaemia and other deadly blood cancers.”