Happy Mother’s Day as Hudson team gets ovarian cancer research grant
By Rob Clancy, staff writer. Reviewed by Dr Maree Bilandzic
A Hudson Institute research project aimed at reducing the recurrence of ovarian cancer has been awarded a significant grant by the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF).
The funding for Dr Maree Bilandzic’s research comes as part of OCRF’s largest-ever funding pool, highlighting growing community support for ovarian cancer research.
Dr Bilandzic’s project titled ‘Disrupting Cancer’s Safe Zones to Help Treatments Work Better’ addresses the leading cause of mortality in women with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma: recurrence and resistance.
“While chemotherapy often works well initially, over 80% of patients will experience a relapse because residual cancer cells hide in ‘safe zones’ or niches created by the treatment itself,” she said.
“With this vital funding from the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF), we will use advanced imaging to map these protective zones and develop a ‘Niche Score’ (NiScore), a new diagnostic tool to predict a patient’s risk of relapse.
“This support allows us to move beyond simply tracking the disease to actively dismantling the survival niches that make relapse seem inevitable, offering a powerful new path toward long-term survivorship.”
The funding of $260,000 over the next 1.5 years is part of the 2026 OCRF Mother’s Day Classic Foundation grants, in recognition of the foundation’s $1.3 million donation to OCRF last year.
Dr Bilandzic says it’s a particular honour for her team to be selected as a Mother’s Day Classic sponsored project.
“As a research team uniting breast and ovarian cancer expertise, this partnership feels especially meaningful,” she said.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Mother’s Day Classic and the OCRF for their commitment to our mission: understanding recurrence biology and preventing relapse before it becomes clinically overt for every woman facing ovarian cancer.”
Ovarian cancer facts
- 1500 Australian women diagnosed each year
- Only 48 per cent survive beyond five years
- Ovarian cancer is the tenth most common cancer in Australia, and a silent killer
- It is often asymptomatic and goes undetected until the advanced stages, when the cancer is widespread
- Only a handful of new treatment options have emerged in the past 30 years
- They typically become ineffective as the cancer develops resistance to chemotherapy
Hudson Institute’s leading researchers are focused on developing an early detection test and discovering better, more effective personalised treatments that will help people survive their diagnosis long term.
The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF) tissue bank at Hudson Institute is a vital resource for tackling ovarian cancer. It is one of the largest Australian repositories of ovarian cancer tumour samples for use in research, housing more than 2,448 ovarian tissue samples used to advance diagnosis and treatment.
Hudson Institute is proud to be among the recipients of funding from the OCRF Mother’s Day Classic Foundation grants.
Collaborators | Professor Delphine Merino (Olivia Newton John), Professor Thomas Cox (Garvan)
This research was supported by | OCRF Mother's Day Classic Foundation grant
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“Thank you Hudson Institute researchers. Your work brings such hope to all women with ovarian cancer knowing that potentially women in the future won't have to go through what we have!”
