Hello,

I’m Jessie, after 5 years of study I recently graduated from the University of Canberra (UC) with a Bachelor of Human Nutrition and Master of Nutrition and Dietetics. One of my best friends, Leah, also studied at UC and just graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing in April.

In 2016 just over two weeks apart, I lost my Auntie Janette and Leah lost her father Harry, both to cancer. What made a tough time even harder was that I was away in Sydney on my first clinical placement, and Leah was right in the middle of her second year of nursing.

A few years ago I found out about the amazing work the UC Cancer Research team have been doing, and I've wanted to help in some way ever since. So in honour of our amazing family members, I’m chopping off around 50cm of (the slowest growing) hair.  I'm donating my hair to Variety – the children’s charity, which will go towards making a wig for a child who has lost their hair due to medical reasons, including cancer and alopecia. Variety may also sell my hair to raise funds for equipment and services.

I don’t want to just stop there though!! Cancer research is something very close to my heart, as it is to MANY others. So, I’m also hoping to raise some well-earned funds for the UC Cancer Research Fund. 

Professor Rao and her team are currently at the stage of human trials working to prevent recurrent, metastatic breast cancer, and strongly believe they could use the same approach for other aggressive cancers like prostate, pancreatic and ovarian cancer.

Cancer stem cells remain dormant in the body even after successful chemotherapy, which can lead to recurrent cancer. These can be more aggressive than the first time and appear in other parts of the body. The team are focusing on three main areas: 

• Metastatic cancer: A drug that can revert cancerous stem cells to normal cancer cells, meaning a lower dose of chemo, reduced side effects, minimal chance of metastatic cancer and no more cancer in the original area
• Combating natural resistance: Analysis of cancer stem cells to predict how the cancer will respond to treatment, allowing oncologists to recommend the most effective treatment to begin with. This includes combining current treatments with new drug therapies 
• Improved patient treatment and care: They have developed a blood test that can detect cancer stem cells in the blood stream, which is a sign that the cancer has metastasised. This is the earliest possible indicator of cancer and reduces the need for an invasive tissue biopsy

Donations of any amount are welcomed, and will go directly to the research lab right here in Canberra!!

Thank you
Jessie 😊