Telethon Adventurers fund new brain tumour research fellowship
The Telethon Adventurers have announced a new research fellowship to investigate the genes involved in childhood brain tumours.
The Elliot Parish Fellowship in Childhood Cancer Research has been awarded to Dr Jacqueline McGlade at Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.
The Telethon Adventurers funding will support Dr McGlade's work at the Institute over the next five years.
Telethon Adventurers founder and Elliot's dad, Rick Parish, said this was an important initiative in the groups war on childhood cancer.
"We know that the only way we can move forward to beat this terrible disease is through research and strategic collaboration with the world's leading childhood cancer researchers," Mr Parish said.
"We are determined to get the best researchers working together on children's brain tumours so we can see the same sort of improvements in treatments and survival rates that we've seen in other types of children's cancers, like leukaemia.
"This is what motivates every single Telethon Adventurer as they fundraise, and we're really proud to show everyone that the money they donate is contributing to a major assault on this disease."
The Elliot Parish Fellowship in Childhood Cancer Research was announced at a thank you function for the more than 50 participants and supporters of the 2011 Telethon Adventurers who will soon be distributing nearly $1.5 million raised during the year.
The head of brain tumour research at the Telethon Institute, Dr Nick Gottardo, said the Telethon Adventurers support had provided a significant increase in the group's research capacity - in both people and equipment.
"We are really thrilled to be able to employ a rising star like Dr Jacqueline McGlade who shares our passion to accelerate progress in beating this really devastating disease," Dr Gottardo said.
"The survival rate for children with brain tumours has plateaued over the past decade. Many children with brain tumours remain incurable and current treatments have severe side-effects which affect the quality of life of survivors. We need to better understand these tumours - how they occur, how they grow and how they survive.
"Dr McGlade will be comparing cancerous and normal tissue to help identify particular genes we suspect may be involved in the process of tumour development and survival.
"It's an important step so we can identify new therapies to target these genes, which we can then test using our laboratory model systems. Ultimately, we hope this will lead to more effective treatments with less side-effects. "
In 2012, planned Adventures include:
- The 2012 Woolworths Ride for Elliot
- The Woolworths Telethon Adventurers Ball Mont Blanc 2012, including climbing Gran Paradiso - Italy, rafting and other fun adventures
- The 2012 Tour for a Cure USA, Harley Davison ride/drive (Ford Mustang Convertibles)
- The 2012 Jump to find a cure for childhood cancer
- Kingo's "Mystery Asian Adventure"