Port Stephens – The Pearls of Port Stephens help fight ovarian cancer

With ovarian cancer sadly taking the lives of more than two out of three people diagnosed within five years, Port Stephens-based fundraising group ‘The Pearls of Port Stephens’ donated more than $3,000 to HMRI to support ovarian cancer research.

Attracting a great community turn-out to their Tea Gardens Pop-Up Op Shop in late January, the Pearls, led by ‘Mother of Pearl’ Kathy Gillespie visited HMRI earlier this month to present the donation and meet with Dr Michelle Wong-Brown, one of Australia’s leading ovarian cancer researchers.

Thanks to their great work, the Pearls of Port Stephens are helping fund research into the 10th most common cancer in females in Australia. About 1,580 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year.

In May 2020, Associate Professor Nikola Bowden, Professor Jennifer Martin, Dr Michelle Wong-Brown and Dr Penny Reeves from the University of Newcastle and the HMRI, were awarded $2.69 million for their Australian Program for Drug-repurposing for Treatment-resistant Ovarian Cancer.

The five-year project aims to take 3,700 existing drugs, that have already been proven to be safe and effective, and screen them to see if they can be applied to treat ovarian cancer.

Learn more about the fantastic research into ovarian cancer that is being conducted at HMRI at hmri.org.au/research/cancer/ovarian-endometrial-cancer