Garvan researcher Rebecca Hinshelwood received the highly coveted $10,000 Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Research Scholar at a gala ceremony last month.

Established in 2006 by the Cancer Institute of NSW, the awards recognise scientists whose work has had a significant impact on cancer treatment, clinical trials, prevention and research.

“It was an overwhelming and exciting evening,” said Rebecca. “I feel honoured to have had my hard work recognized and to know that the Cancer Institute believes in my project.”

Specifically, Rebecca was recognised for her cancer research on epigenetic
changes in breast cancer. Her work is aimed at identifying genes that are epigenetically modified in the early stages of breast cancer as well as elucidating the mechanism responsible. Epigenetic modification alters the expression of genes without a change in the DNA sequence.
 
Rebecca, a PhD student in Garvan's Epigenetics laboratory, has been at Garvan since 2004, studying with Professor Susan Clark. She will be submitting her thesis later this year.