Fundraiser for childhood cancer

An Australian leukemia researcher is racing against the clock to stop his four-year old daughter from succumbing to an incurable form of brain cancer.

Doctor Mat Dun and his GP wife were devastated when their little girl, Josephine, was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), an aggressive cancer that almost always targets young children. Dr Dun is now using his medical expertise to treat and try to extend Josie’s life and the life of 20 other Australian children who are diagnosed with the incurable cancer each year.

“As a cancer researcher myself at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) in Newcastle, we were immediately aware of the devastating course that an aggressive brain cancer like DIPG was going to run. “To date, Josie has undergone more than 50 general anaesthetics, 30 doses of radiation therapy, seven surgeries and numerous other violations to her precious little body. I knew I could not continue to limit my research to childhood leukaemia when there seemed so much to be gained in the research of DIPG from skills and techniques I was using every day,” said Dr Dun.

He developed his own research program through HMRI and created a GoFundMe page to help pay for any intervention that is likely to change the outlook for Josie and to help fund his research at HMRI.

Link to GoFundMe page: https://au.gofundme. com/wcac68-run-dipg