Josephine Dun: Father and cancer researcher Matt Dun calls for more funding in fight to end cancer
Cancer researcher Matt Dun lost his little girl to an aggressive brain tumour - an anguish he is fighting to stop others from experiencing.
His two-year-old daughter Josephine was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) in 2018.
Professor Dun, a paediatric leukaemia research specialist, began researching the brain cancer after discovering palliative radiation was the only therapy available.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“I faced the most challenging and tragic circumstances,” he told AAP.
Through genetic sequencing of Josephine’s tumour, the determined father and his team identified a gene critical to the cancer’s development.
She became the world’s first child to be given the new therapies, which slowed the tumour’s growth and extended her short life.
“The therapies stabilised the disease and Josie learnt to walk again, swim and have her one and only dance concert,” Prof Dun said.
“And we had a great Christmas with her cousins and our family.”
Josephine died in December 2019 at the age of four.
Prof Dun will be awarded the Australian Society for Medical Research Medal at the National Press Club in Canberra on Tuesday.
“I’m constantly reminded of the courage of children that are diagnosed with it now and those of the future,” he said.
“So it continues to drive me forward, and thanks to the generosity of the Australian public, I’m supported to do so and to make a difference.”
In an address, Prof Dun will share his family’s story to make the case for greater funding of medical research.
“We live in a privileged society where health is at the forefront of everybody’s importance,” he said.
“Without having a healthy family, there’s really nothing.”
He said it was “obvious” and made economic sense as every dollar spent on health and medical research returned $3.20.
“It’s not only the dollar figure, but it provides families with help, with hope, and it may change the outcomes of children in the future who are diagnosed with cancer,” Prof Dun said.
He along with his wife, Dr Phoebe Dun, founded RUN DIPG, a charity dedicated to improving outcomes for patients, their families and communities.
