The Jreissati Pancreatic Centre at Epworth is pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of its PhD Top-up Scholarships. These scholarships, valued at $10,000 per year for three years, are awarded annually to doctoral candidates in Victoria. Supporting ground-breaking research in pancreatic cancer, these scholarships enable recipients to undertake innovative projects that span fundamental research to clinical applications.

This year’s awardees are leading innovative projects that will advance the treatment and management of pancreatic cancer:

  • Dr. Purva Trivedi, from the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, is focused on improving the response of pancreatic cancer to therapy by activating the immune system.
  • Kate Connell, from La Trobe University, is working on improving the quality of life for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer through enhanced nutritional management.
  • Phoebe Dunbar, from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, is using advanced technology to engineer immune cells that can selectively target and destroy cancer cells, while sparing healthy tissue.
  • Saeed Aslani, from Monash University, is researching the use of circulating tumour DNA to predict and personalise responses to pancreatic cancer treatments.

Previous recipients have highlighted the positive impact of these scholarships on their academic and personal life.

"This support allowed me to focus entirely on my studies. With fewer financial distractions, I was able to dedicate more time to conducting experiments, analysing data, and refining my research. This has been invaluable in helping me balance both my academic and personal responsibilities," said Sakshi Arora, a recipient of the 2023 Top-up Scholarship round.

The Jreissati Pancreatic Centre remains dedicated to advancing pancreatic cancer research and care. The next round of scholarship applications will open in August 2025.