story by Ge n e vie ve Sa n ch e zA lifetime of serviceto charityThe tragedy of losingfive children to cysticfibrosis fuelled JeanDunlop’s lifetimecommitment to supportresearch into childhooddisease prevention.Jean and husband Hugh discoveredthey were carriers of the fatal diseasewith the diagnosis of their first childHelen. She died at just two years of agealong with newborn twins Hugh and Jean,11-year-old David, and Joanne, aged 23.When Joanne was in the later stagesof the disease, she suggested they opena second-hand shop to raise money forresearch. For more than 20 years Jeancontinued to run the shop and in 1992was awarded the Medal of the Order ofAustralia (OAM) for service to the CysticFibrosis Association.“She was a strong, determined person,”says Gloria Kirk, Jean’s niece. “Youwould never have known that she hadsuffered those tragedies – she was alwayslaughing and happy.”And she kept giving. The year beforeshe died Jean saw a TV news itemabout the work of the first Florey Fellow,Dr Annette Osei-Kumah, who wasundertaking research into improving thehealth of pregnant asthmatic women.It struck a chord with Jean as animportant area of research that wouldbenefit pregnant mothers and their babies.She decided that her legacy should bedirected towards the Florey MedicalResearch Foundation.In 2012, her bequest directly benefitedpostdoctoral researcher Dr KathleenPishas who is researching therapeutictreatments for Ewing sarcoma—avery rare, solid bone cancer thatdisproportionally affects the young.“It’s so aggressive, patients have togo through 42 weeks of chemotherapy,with up to seven different drugs, followedby surgery and sometimes radiation,”says Kathleen.Postdoctoral researcher,Dr Kathleen PishasWe can onlymake little footstepsbut with thegenerosity of thecommunity we canreally make leapsand strides.3 0 Lumen | Winter 2014Left: Jean Dunlop“I don’t see what I do as a job, I seeit as a cause—my aim is to leave myfootprint and know that I had a purpose.We can only make little footsteps butwith the generosity of the community wecan really make leaps and strides.”Professor David Callen, Director of theCentre for Personalised Cancer Medicine,says they are grateful for bequestsand donations that allow them to keepresearchers like Kathleen on board.“We are the only group in Australiaresearching Ewing sarcoma and we liveor die on grants, but the rarer cancersdon’t have a high profile when it comesto funding,” he says.As a result of the Fellowship, Kathleenwill continue her postdoctoral researchinto Ewing sarcoma at an overseasposting later this year.Please helpus to continueour workA gift or bequest, no matter howlarge or small, is an effective way ofadvancing medical research—a giftthat creates something of everlastingsignificance and importance. TheFlorey Medical Research Foundationwelcomes gifts and bequests of allsizes and these may be directed toa specific area of research.For bequests:Contact the University of Adelaide’sPlanned Giving Officer Sue Foxon +61 8 8313 3234, emailsusan.fox@adelaide.edu.au or visitwww.alumni.adelaide.edu.au/bequestsFor gifts:Contact the Florey Medical ResearchFoundation on +61 8 8313 3995or visit www.florey.adelaide.edu.au
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