Outstanding Aboriginal researcher Jessica Buck has received a prestigious Forrest Foundation Research Fellowship to investigate innovative new therapies for children with brain cancer.
Dr Buck, a post-doctoral researcher at the The Kids Cancer Centre and The University of Western Australia, is the first Indigenous Forrest Fellow.
Awarded to outstanding early career researchers, the Fellowship will support Dr Buck’s work in testing new therapies for children’s brain cancer.
Dr Buck, who is a proud descendant of the Kamilaroi people, is the first Aboriginal Australian woman to graduate Oxford University with a PhD, and was named Young Australian Achiever of the Year in the 2019 Australia Day Foundation UK Awards.
“Brain tumours kill more Australian children than any other disease. Consequently, there is a huge need to develop new therapies to help treat these devastating diseases,” Dr Buck said.
“My research focuses on using a class of new drugs called kinase inhibitors to both improve survival and reduce the lifelong harms caused by treatment. "
“The major strength of my approach is that by working directly with paediatric oncologists, we design innovative pre-clinical trials that mimic the approaches used in the clinic, and more accurately predict what will happen when these new drugs are trialled in children.”
The 29-year-old joined The Kids in early 2019 as the first Aboriginal intern for the Institute through the Aurora Internship program, which supports both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students to gain professional experience and improve career opportunities at more than 200 organisations across Australia.
“I hope to be a role model for Aboriginal students, and to encourage them to take up STEM subjects,” Dr Buck said.
“I want to become involved in mentoring Aboriginal women and girls in STEM. My goal is to increase the number of Indigenous women enjoying, studying and working in STEM fields.”
Co-head of brain tumour research at The Kids, Dr Raelene Endersby, said Dr Buck was an incredibly smart individual, and she considered her among the top five per cent of international early-career researchers.
“She is highly motivated to help others and is passionate about being a role model for other Indigenous students and researchers,” Dr Endersby said.
“Dr Buck will be a huge asset to our team. She brings with her extensive experience in preclinical imaging and adds this expertise to our existing arsenal of laboratory tools. Ultimately this will expedite our quest to find new treatments for childhood brain cancer and fast-track these into the clinic.”
About the Forrest Research Foundation
The Forrest Research Foundation aims to attract the brightest minds to conduct research in Western Australia. The Foundation provides support to international and domestic students to enrol in a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at one of the State’s universities and also supports leading researchers who are at the start of their career by providing post-doctoral fellowships.