The Arrow Jazz Pharmaceutical Travel Conference scholarship was established this year to help healthcare professionals working in haematology pursue their research and continuing education goals. Funded by a generous $20,000 donation by Jazz Pharmaceuticals, the scholarship supports nurses as well as allied health professionals, researchers and data managers.

This year, the scholarship attracted a number of high calibre and experienced applicants. We are very proud to announce the following successful recipients of this year’s Arrow Jazz Pharmaceuticals travel conference scholarship:

Emma Munro, Clinical Nurse at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital

Emma will be using her scholarship to support her travel to the MASCC/AFSOS/ISOO 2024 Annual Meeting in Lille, France. Cancer patients experience many problems associated with their cancer and also its treatment. MASCC/AFSOS/ISOO is one of the most highly regarded international conferences on supportive care for patients across all disciplines of cancer care. Emma has submitted an abstract for consideration as a presentation at the conference.

Jessica Cheng, Senior Clinical Dietician at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney

Jessica has a keen interest in nutrition and the care of haematology and bone marrow/stem cell transplant patients. She will be attending the Asia Pacific Bone Marrow Transplant Nutrition Working Group meeting in Singapore, and is looking forward to being able to meet with colleagues from around the world.

Yvonne Panek-Hudson, Nurse Practioner, Clinical Lead Allogeneic BMT Long Term Follow Up Service, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital

As well as being a Nurse Practioner, Yvonne is also co-founder and co-host of The Straight & Marrow Podcast, and she used her scholarship to attend the recent European BMT conference in Glasgow. While there, she offered two presentations: one was an oral presentation about The Straight & Marrow Podcast and the other a poster presentation about some research into the experiences of young adult stem cell transplant patients entering into adult long term follow up programs.

Priscilla Gates, Research Fellow at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Priscilla is also attending the MASCC Conference in Lille, France, where she will be presenting two papers:

1. Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Aggressive Lymphoma compared to Healthy Controls: An Exploratory Study
   and
2. Web-based cognitive rehabilitation intervention for cancer-related cognitive impairment following chemotherapy for aggressive lymphoma: protocol for a randomised pilot trial.

These two papers fit beautifully with the theme of the conference, which is to “empower people impacted by cancer and living with toxicities”, and we are proud to be supporting Priscilla in her advocacy of Australian research on the world stage.

Thank you Jazz Pharmaceuticals

All four recipients express their gratitude to Arrow and Jazz Pharmaceuticals for making it possible for them to attend international meetings and conferences. Emma Munro sums up their sentiments well when she says, “It is a privilege to attend an international conference to share my work with like-minded colleagues. It will offer a unique experience to learn, network and grow personally and professionally.

“Meeting international experts in cancer care will enrich my depth of knowledge, gaining insights into the latest research and the clinical management of acute toxicities experienced by our patients. My ability to contribute to the positive impact on my patients’ care will be strengthened by this experience. Sincere gratitude to Jazz Pharmaceuticals for their generous funding to make this possible.”