Ovarian Research Fellowship Announced

Jennifer Quinn

Ovarian cancer remains the leading cause of death among gynaecologic malignancies and the fifth leading cause of death among all cancers in women. Although the majority of women exhibit an excellent response to first line chemotherapy, approximately 80% of patients experience disease recurrence, characterised by multiple drug resistance.

Due to the poor survival of women with recurrent, chemoresistant ovarian cancer, Breakthrough believe that a greater understanding of the mechanisms which contribute to this resistance is urgently needed. Therefore, in 2016 Breakthrough focused on this issue. In Summer 2016, Ms. Jennifer Quinn was appointed as an Ovarian Research Fellow. Her role is supported by both the Brid Carr Memorial fund and Breakthrough, and was set up to address the lack of awareness of and research into, ovarian cancer in Ireland.

The memorial fund was established by the family of Brid Carr, who passed away from ovarian cancer. Jennifer joined the UCC Autophagy Team, led by Dr Sharon Mckenna and is thrilled to be part of our multidisciplinary group trying to tackle this lethal cancer.