Jette Ford
The Institute farewelled one of its most treasured employees this year, as WA Kids Cancer Centre research officer Jette Ford closed the door on a quietly stellar 37-year career which has helped to change the face of cancer research in WA and around the world.
Humble to a fault, Jette Ford wouldn’t tell you herself that – together with The Kids founding researcher and Honorary Emeritus Fellow, Professor Ursula Kees – she pioneered paediatric cancer research in Western Australia.
She also wouldn’t tell you she’s one of the few people in the world who can reliably coax immortality out of cancer cells taken directly from patients – an exceptionally difficult task but one she’s mastered 116 times.
The significance of this feat and what it means for cancer research here and overseas cannot be overstated.
“She has probably cultured more cancer cell lines than anyone else in the world,” said Brain Tumour Research Co-Head Dr Nick Gottardo, who trained in lab work and cell culture under Ms Ford as a PhD student.
Although notoriously difficult to establish, cancer cell lines are essential tools in the ongoing global effort to better understand and find new, gentler therapies to beat cancer.
“These unique models enable us to do a great deal of scientific work, including drug testing and screening to try and identify new treatments for, in our case, children with cancer,” explained Co-Head of Leukaemia Translational Research, Dr Rishi Kotecha.
“Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to do a fraction of the research we’ve undertaken at The Kids.
“But Jette hasn’t just produced these cell lines for our use here – we’ve sent them all over the world, to other parts of Australia, to the UK, America, Europe, parts of Asia – where other researchers are also using these resources to try to improve outcomes for children with cancer.
Her work is not just renowned locally, it’s renowned nationally and internationally, so she’s had a really important role in cancer research over the last 30 years or so.
Exactly how Ms Ford managed to repeatedly harness the immortality of cancer cell lines outside the body – including from tiny samples of incredibly rare cancers that few others have been able to tame – remains a source of awe to her colleagues.
“She’s a magician when it comes to growing up cell lines,” according to Cancer Centre colleague Joyce Oommen, who now cares for the extensive biobank of patient samples and cell lines Ms Ford established.
“Somehow she just knows what a happy cell looks like versus an unhappy cell.” Professor Kees attributed Ms Ford’s skill to her unique patience and rare work ethic.
“It requires patience and insight to read these cells and she did it on a daily basis – often in her own time – and especially when they were in the critical stage,” she said. “Her dedication and success rate are second to none.”
Ms Ford herself credits her success to her lifelong motto: “Always be good at what you’re doing. Work hard, do it to your best ability and you’ll always have a job.”
Having witnessed the birth of the The Kids Cancer Centre and broader Institute, helped pioneer paediatric cancer research in WA, and mentored countless students and clinicians-turned-researchers, including Drs Gottardo and Kotecha, Ms Ford retired this year as The Kids’ second longest-serving employee.
“Like so many other students and researchers Jette took me under her wing and taught me everything she knew,” Dr Kotecha said. “I owe a large part of my success today to her mentorship.
She leaves an amazing legacy, not just in terms of the cell lines and tissue samples she leaves us with, which will enable us to continue advancing science for years to come, but her personal legacy.