Partnership Set to Help Save Young Lives
7 January 2014 at 8:51 am
An insurance company’s charitable foundation has partnered with charity The Kids’ Cancer Project to assist one young cancer patient in their battle to overcome childhood cancer.
The QBE Foundation has given The Kids’ Cancer Project a $100,000 grant to support a child to undergo an innovative Cancer Gene Therapy Trial at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney.
The Cancer Gene Therapy Program aims to find a way to better treat children with brain tumours and is the first trial in Australia to target bone marrow with gene therapy in an attempt to protect the cells to allow for an increase in chemotherapy dosage.
“Having been fortunate enough to see firsthand the positive impact the work of the Kids Cancer Project is having on the patients and families at Westmead Children’s Hospital, there can be no doubt as to the importance of supporting initiatives such as this within our community,” QBE Foundation Chairman Tony MacRae said.
“Being able to provide assistance to someone, whether child or adult, that helps them to live a successful and productive life is exactly what the QBE Foundation strives to do.”
Peter Neilson, Chief Executive Officer of The Kids’ Cancer Project, said: “We’re proud to be associated with QBE and thank the Foundation sincerely for such a generous donation.
“The Kids’ Cancer Project finds and funds the best research projects to cure the most lethal childhood cancers, specifically brain tumours and neuroblastoma.
“The project the QBE Foundation is supporting is one example. It is through clinical trials that researchers can make real progress that has the potential to change the treatment of childhood cancer globally.”
The QBE Foundation supports charities that help people overcome disadvantage.
The Kids’ Cancer Project is an Australian charity focused on funding research programs dedicated to finding cures for childhood cancer.