Pancreatic cancer researcher Minoti Apte has added another award to her mantelpiece – the prestigious Professor Rob Sutherland Make a Difference Award.
Prof Apte, who is Pancreatic Research Group leader at the Ingham Institute, received the honour at the NSW Premier’s Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research last Friday.
Professor is a world leading researcher in the field of alcohol-induced pancreatic injury and pancreatic cancer.
Her group was the first to show that cells surrounding pancreatic cancer cells, called pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs), actively help cancer cells to grow and spread.
She was the first in the world to develop a method to isolate and culture PSC and is currently leading pre-clinical studies that are primed to suggest new treatments for pancreatic cancer.
“I am truly honoured and humbled to receive the NSW Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Research,” Prof Apte said.
“This award belongs to my entire Research Group.
“I wish to pay particular tribute to my mentors, Prof Jeremy Wilson and Prof Ron Pirola, and also to my current PhD students Zhihong Xu and Sri Pothula for their tireless work.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Recognition such as this award inspires us to work harder to continue to develop new approaches for the treatment of pancreatic inflammation and pancreatic cancer,” Prof Apte said.[/social_quote]
The NSW Premier’s Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research, hosted by the Cancer Institute NSW, honours the achievements of the individuals and teams that work across the cancer research sector to lessen the impact of cancer for the people of NSW.
Make a Difference Award prizemoney
Named after internationally recognised cancer researcher Prof Rob Sutherland, the Make a Difference Award achieved by Professor Apte recognises highly successful research which is actively changing cancer treatment and improving patient survival.
Prof Apte will also receive a $20,000 cash prize to support her research endeavours.
Ingham Institute research director, Prof Michael Barton, said that the Ingham Institute was very fortunate to have Prof Apte as part of its research team.
“This is well deserved recognition for an incredibly talented researcher,” Prof Barton said.
“Professor Minoti Apte is nationally and internationally acclaimed in the field of pancreatic cancer research and her tireless work continues to play a major role in improving the health and wellbeing of Australian cancer patients,” he said.
Cancer Institute NSW CEO, Prof David Currow, also congratulated Prof Apte.
“It is important to recognise our cancer researchers whose commitment and talent is continually seeing research findings being translated from the lab into novel treatments for people with cancer,” he said.
