Pancare Scholarships & Awards Program
Pancare recognises that fostering an engaged clinical research community is a major factor in developing research programs and clinical trials that will progress the therapies and best-practice care for those impacted by upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer into the future. Importantly, Pancare funds a range of Scholarships and Awards for emerging leaders in the field of upper GI cancer research.
The aim of the Pancare Scholarships & Awards Program is to engage early-career researchers in accelerating world-leading research and clinical trials that will deliver results that improve outcomes and quality of life for those living with upper GI cancer, their carers and families.
The Pancare Scholarships & Awards Program includes regular awarding of funds to emerging researchers with high-quality projects that have best chance of positively impacting the lives of those who are affected by upper GI cancers.
Placements for the Damien Woodruff Scholarship ($20k), Phil Sly Research Scholarship ($20k) and the young investigator (PdCCRS/Cancer Australia $1k) will recommence in mid-2021.
Pancare Scholarships & Awards: 2021 funding round coming soon
Pancare considers the support of early career researchers as a strategic priority and is looking to re-commence this program in the first half of 2021. Full funding has been allocated to these programs in 2021.
Phil Sly Research Scholarship
Watch this space – Phil Sly Research Scholarship re-launching in mid-2021.
The Phil Sly Research Scholarship was first awarded in 2013 to honour the life of Phil Sly, who was an entrepreneur, building developer, racehorse owner, philanthropist and cancer survivor. He battled colorectal cancer, liver and lung metastases with the same determination as applied to all aspects of his life. Phil has been a supporter and friend to Pancare Foundation from its early days. He believed in fostering world-class research to improve the management of pancreatic, liver, biliary, oesophageal and stomach cancers. This scholarship acknowledges his generosity, passion and inspirational approach to life.
The Pancare Foundation offers the Phil Sly research scholarship to support a dedicated PhD candidate to achieve success in important research related to pancreatic, liver, and biliary, oesophageal and stomach cancers.
Frequency of award: every 3 – 5 years
Award Recipients:
2013 – Dr Venessa Chin, Garvan Institute, NSW. Biomarker and Targeted Novel Drug Development in Pancreatic Cancer
2021 – Application round opening soon!
New Onwards & Upwards Damian Woodruff Scholarship
Watch this space – Onwards & Upwards Damian Woodruff Scholarship re-launching in mid-2021.
Cancer Australia Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme
Additional to the Pancare Scholarships & Awards Program, Pancare actively supports Cancer Australia’s Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme (PdCCRS) with collaborative funding for early-career projects to support research that reduces the impact of cancer on the community and improves outcomes for people affected by cancer.
Past Pancare Scholarship & Award Winners
Scholarship winner: Dr Ashleigh Poh
Institution: La Trobe University and The Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI)
Project: Targeting HCK in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma to restrict tumour growth and metastasis.
Cancer type: Pancreatic
Dr Ashleigh Poh’s jointly funded PdCCRS project defined the therapeutic benefit of targeting a protein known as Haematopoietic Cell Kinase (HCK) in pancreatic cancer. The HCK enzyme is expressed in a type of immune cell known as a macrophage, which are a major component of pancreatic tumours. The more HCK activity a macrophage has, the more it is able to promote tumour growth. Dr Poh’s work hypothesised that the inhibition of HCK would reduce pancreatic cancer progression and spread by impairing the ability of macrophages to promote tumour growth. Publication of this research is expected in 2021.
This scholarship resulted from a key collaboration between Pancare, Cancer Australia and the Cure Cancer Foundation through Cancer Australia’s PdCCRS grant funding program.
Scholarship winner: Dr Venessa Chin
Institution: Garvan Institute of Medical Research, NSW
Project: Biomarker and Targeted Novel Drug Development in Pancreatic Cancer
Cancer type: Pancreatic
A Medical Oncologist now at the Kinghorn Cancer Centre at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Dr Venessa Chin completed her PhD work within the Personalised Cancer Therapeutics group at the Garvan Institute for Medical Research. Dr Chin was the inaugural winner of the Phil Sly Research Scholarship in 2013, which supported her project which used genomics to inform therapeutic discoveries in pancreatic cancer. The project included a meta-analysis, in vitro and in vivo analyses of rationally-selected drug targets as well as an analysis of real-time metastasis formation in the pancreas.
Dr Chin used her Phil Sly Research Scholarship funds to support her contributions to several high-impact publications, including seminal articles in Cochrane Reviews, Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine and the World Journal of Gastroenterology. This important body of work is continuing to deliver the research framework for positive outcomes for those affected by pancreatic cancer.
Learn more about the research programs we support and how you can help make a difference.
