At an early age, Jess became curious about science and cell biology as her grandfather was a microbiologist.  This curiousity lead to Jess studying science and going on to joining Professor John Rasko’s laboratory as a PhD student.

Dr Jess Tiffen

Whilst a PhD Student, Jess was awarded the Cure the Future Scholarship which allowed her to successfully complete her final PhD year and publish two discoveries in Molecular Cancer and the International Journal of Cancer and presented presented her work at the European Association for Cancer Research in Oslo, Norway.

“The generous support I received from Cure the Future essentially kick-started my career in cancer research. It allowed me to pursue a fascinating and rewarding science career.”

Jessamy (Jess) Tiffen

Now a Senior Post-doctorate researcher in the Melanoma Immunology and Oncology at the Centenary, Jess is investigating new drugs that target melanoma to try and find out how they work and who they will work for. Several of our studies using these drugs have been published in reputable cancer journals. I’ve subsequently received funding from the Cancer Council of NSW for such a project.       

‘Cure The Future means hope. Hope for both the researchers that they can continue to find solutions to difficult puzzles and hope for patients, that they are provided with treatment options when nothing else works.’

Melanoma is often referred to as Australia’s National Cancer as we have the highest incidence in the world. Although there are some very effective treatments for melanoma, these do not work for everyone and the development of therapy resistance is a huge problem that hinders success.

Jess’s studies into alternative treatments have been published in reputable cancer journals and Jess has also subsequently received funding from the Cancer Council of NSW for a research project in to melanoma.

Cure The Future supports scientists like Jess so they can continue their work to find alternative treatments and cure for cancers and inherited diseases.