The historic association between DCWC and WEHI has been incredibly productive. DCWC was involved in the institute’s initial development in 1981 and its subsequent redevelopment in 2012. Our team provided quantity surveying services for their early learning centre, completed in 2017.
DCWC first committed to a WEHI endowment of $30,000 a year for three years; however, from 2016, this was increased to a further $100,000 over the course of three years.
In 2020, DCWC renewed its pledge to commit $100,000 to WEHI over the next three years, supporting WEHI’s pancreatic cancer research.
The pancreas assists in digestion and regulation of blood sugar levels. Pancreatic cancer occurs when abnormal cells in the pancreas multiply out of control and form a tumour.
Pancreatic cancer is Australia’s eighth most commonly diagnosed cancer, but sadly is the third most common cause of cancer death. Survival rates for pancreatic cancer are amongst the lowest of all cancers, with only around one in 10 people with this disease surviving five years after diagnosis.
Early-stage pancreatic cancer is hard to detect, so most Australians with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed at late, harder-to-treat stages, resulting in poor outcomes. More effective treatments to combat pancreatic cancer are still urgently needed.
WEHI’s Dr Tracy Putoczki and her team are leveraging cutting-edge organoids-based technology to better understand pancreatic cancer biology. This is helping to uncover new ways to combat this disease.
Organoids are miniature, lab-grown replicas of cancer patients’ tumours. As organoids mimic a patient’s own cancer, they can be used to accelerate scientific discoveries as well as enable a more personalised approach to therapy for each individual pancreatic cancer patient. This research gives hope of improved quality of life and improved survival for people living with pancreatic cancer.
Established in 1915, WEHI is Australia’s oldest and longest serving medical research institute. For more than 100 years, WEHI researchers have been making transformative discoveries in cancers, infectious and immune diseases, developmental disorders and healthy ageing. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies and highly collaborative networks, WEHI brings together multidisciplinary teams comprised of world-leading experts from a range of diverse scientific disciplines, all committed to creating a brighter, healthier future for all.
For more information: wehi.edu.au.
Banner image: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
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