Spotlight: supporting ovarian cancer research

There are few parts of the Australian community that remain untouched by ovarian cancer. The team at Spotlight Group Holdings, one of the nation’s largest retail organisations, is supporting Hudson Institute’s work to help find a cure and better early diagnostics for the deadly disease.

Each year about 1,500 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and fewer than half will survive beyond five years. The reality is that five Australian women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer every day. Seventy per cent of the women are diagnosed in the advanced stages.

So, when ovarian cancer researcher Dr Maree Bilandzic visited the company’s head office earlier in the year to speak about her work on ovarian cancer research at Hudson Institute, there were plenty of people with more than an academic interest in what she had to say.

Ben Clark, General Manager Investments Spotlight Group Holdings, said he and his team organised a fundraiser for ovarian cancer. More than 20 gifts – including from the Spotlight Foundation – raised more than $50,000.

“My wife, Jessica Clark, is an ovarian cancer survivor so this means the world to us. It is incredibly important to come together to fund this research so that a cure can be found,” said Mr Clark.

Breakthrough research targets treatment resistance

Dr Bilandzic’s research focuses on developing effective strategies to block the harmful actions of leader cells, thereby improving the efficacy of cancer treatments and preventing tumour progression. She is working to understand how leader cells interact with other cancer cells and healthy cells and the mechanisms that enable leader cells to resist chemotherapy.

She returned recently to the Spotlight head office to receive the gift for ovarian cancer research from Spotlight Group co-founder Morry Fraid and Ben Clark and said she was “very grateful and overwhelmed by the interest and support in her and other researchers’ work at Hudson Institute.”

Morry Fraid, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Spotlight Group Holdings, said “The Spotlight Foundation embodies the family’s values and is committed to supporting those in need, both locally and overseas.”

Spotlight Group controls, operates and invests in a diverse set of businesses and assets, including retail brands Spotlight, Anaconda, Harris Scarfe and Mountain Designs, the Spotlight Property Group (SPG), multi-asset class global investment portfolio and its in-house charity, the Spotlight Foundation.

It’s the kind of corporate philanthropy that can make an enormous difference to researchers themselves, the work they do and the lives they’re working to save.