A Newcastle researcher will receive a major honour for his work to improve the survival of children diagnosed with an aggressive and deadly cancer . Login or signup to continue reading Professor Matt Dun will receive the Australian Society for Medical Research medal at the National Press Club on Tuesday. Professor Dun, of University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute, said it was "a huge honour and extremely humbling".
"It comes with a good opportunity to advocate for health and medical research, and for families that have faced and will face this terrible monster." Professor Dun is focused on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), having lost his daughter Josephine to this disease. He leads a team of more than 20 researchers, who are analysing DIPG tumours to pinpoint disease subtypes and further refine treatments.
In a press club address, Professor Dun will share his personal journey and discuss his pioneering research, which has extended lives and offered fresh hope. Josephine was diagnosed in 2018, shortly before she turned three. Most children with DIPG survive only six to 12 months after diagnosis.
Josephine died at age four in December 2019, almost two years after diagnosis. "I knew I had to act immediately. Knowing there were no effective treatments for DIPG, I couldn't just accept it," Professor Dun said.
"I reached out to the world's leading DIPG researchers and gathered information on potential treatments that were in development. "My goal was to .