After graduating, Grace accepted a National Undergraduate Scholarship to Melbourne University (one of only ten for interstate students each year).

Interested in the biology of stem cells (in particular, their potential to generate new tissue to replace diseased organs possibly), Grace majored in Developmental Biology with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science. In 2008, she undertook an honours year at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI).

Her recent ground-breaking work with colleague Dr Ross Dickins at WEHI has shown that a type of leukaemia can be successfully ‘reversed’ by coaxing the cancer cells back into normal development. The discovery was made using a model of the most common cancer affecting children [(B-progenitor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL)].

Grace and Dr Dickins, in collaboration with scientists in Vienna, showed that switching off the Pax5 gene could cause cancer in a model of B-ALL while restoring its function could ‘cure’ the disease. The study was published in the journal, Genes & Development.

It seems Grace’s skills are in demand worldwide. With her recently awarded PhD and numerous offers to join international research institutes, she has accepted a position as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna.

Grace now works as a program manager at Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), Austria’s largest private non-profit research funding organisation.

Walk of Fame Inductee 2014