Three blood cancer researchers and clinicians have received PhD scholarships to improve the treatment, care, and outcomes of Australians living with blood cancer.
The Leukaemia Foundation and the Haematological Society of Australia and New Zealand have announced the latest recipients of their jointly funded PhD scholarships.
Ms Ashley Whitechurch, Dr Samuel Grigg, and Dr George Mason will each receive a $150,000 PhD scholarship from January 2027 to December 2029 to complete their studies.
Ms Whitechurch in a nurse practitioner who specialises in lymphoma and chronic leukaemia at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Her doctoral research will investigate how specialist nursing support, remote monitoring, and home-based treatment could make bispecific antibody therapy safer for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma whose cancer has returned or not responded to previous treatments.
“If successful, Ms Whitechurch’s research could reduce unnecessary hospital visits, improve early detection of side effects and provide greater support to patients, paving the way for safer, more convenient and patient-centred delivery of innovative lymphoma treatments across Australia,” the Leukaemia Foundation and HSANZ said in a joint statement.
Dr Grigg is in his last year of haematology training at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The scholarship funding will allow Dr Grigg to test a novel approach for treating acute myeloid leukaemia that involves programmable RNA technology. The new technology identifies and destroys cancer cells using specific RNA sensors that only activate when they detect that specific signal, leaving healthy cells untouched.
“Dr Grigg’s research could pave the way for a new generation of more precise and adaptable blood cancer treatments, offering renewed hope to patients with treatment-resistant AML and ultimately improving survival outcomes,” the joint statement read.
Dr Mason is a clinical and laboratory haematologist from New South Wales whose PhD work will seek to improve how childhood leukaemia is monitored and treated using advanced genetic testing techniques such as liquid biopsies and whole-genome sequencing.
Understanding how much cancer remains after early-stage chemotherapy is important in children with leukaemia, as it tells doctors whether the treatment is working and which patients may be at greater risk of relapse in the future. The advanced techniques that Dr Mason will use in his research are more accurate at detecting smaller amounts of remaining leukaemia than existing approaches, and are also less invasive.
The Leukaemia Foundation and HSANZ said this research program “could pave the way for more precise, personalised and less invasive approaches to treating childhood leukaemia, improving outcomes while reducing unnecessary chemotherapy and its long-term impacts on children and their families”.
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“The Leukaemia Foundation is thrilled to partner with HSANZ on these PhD scholarships which continue to mark one of our most important research announcements each year,” said Bill Stavreski, head of research at the leukaemia foundation.
“We extend our congratulations to Ms Whitechurch, Dr Grigg, and Dr Mason, who will… undertake some of this country’s most innovative and cutting-edge blood cancer research projects.”
Mr Stavreski said funding opportunities like these were vital to reducing the burden of blood cancer in Australia, where the incidence is projected to double over a ten-year period.
“Every day, 55 Australians will be newly diagnosed with blood cancer and a further 17 will sadly lose their life to the disease, with blood cancer remaining one of the nation’s deadliest cancers,” he said.
“Research projects like those of the PhD scholarship recipients are fundamental to improving the survival rates of Australians diagnosed with blood cancer and accelerating research to realise advancements in blood cancer treatment.”
The Leukaemia Foundation has provided funding for PhD scholarships for more than 20 years, handing out more than $65 million to 100+ recipients over the journey. The HSANZ first partnered with the foundation on this initiative in 2018.
“If we are to have any hope of reducing blood cancer mortality in this country, it’s paramount we continue to invest in local blood cancer research projects and continue to be the biggest supporters of Australia’s next generation of researchers and clinicians, so together we can find better treatments and one day a cure,” said Mr Stavreski.
