Expanding Horizons in Paediatric Transplant Care: Heather Weerdenburg at EBMT 2026
Arrow Stories
At Arrow Foundation, we are committed to empowering healthcare professionals across the multidisciplinary team who play a vital role in improving outcomes for patients undergoing bone marrow and stem cell transplants. This year, we were proud to support Heather Weerdenburg, Senior Oncology Bone Marrow Transplant Pharmacist at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Melbourne, with a scholarship to attend the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) Conference virtually.
Heather’s experience highlights not only the impact of access to global expertise, but also the critical contributions pharmacists make behind the scenes in paediatric transplant care.
A Well-Deserved Opportunity
Heather learned about the scholarship through a previous recipient and describes receiving it as both a relief and a milestone:
“I felt a sense of achievement and relief that the costs could be covered to allow me to attend and present my work. There is minimal funding available for pharmacists to attend conferences.”
As a Senior BMT Pharmacist with five years experience at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and currently undertaking a PhD in supportive care for paediatric transplant patients, Heather is deeply embedded in both clinical practice and research. Her work focuses on improving medication safety, access, and outcomes for children undergoing transplant—an area where continuous learning is essential.
Why EBMT Matters
The EBMT Conference is widely regarded as one of the most important global meetings in bone marrow and stem cell transplantation. What makes it especially valuable for professionals like Heather is its dedicated Pharmacy and Paediatric streams, providing highly targeted, practical insights.
“Pharmacy Day at EBMT is unique… it allows work and connection with other BMT pharmacists.”
Heather found significant value in connecting with the international pharmacy community and gaining insight into evolving practices across transplant centres.
Key Learnings
Heather identified several important clinical insights that will directly influence her practice:
- Therapeutic drug monitoring advancements, particularly for anti-thymocyte globulin
- Emerging treatment pathways for acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD)
- The growing role of AI in haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT)
One particularly impactful area was the management of steroid- and ruxolitinib-refractory acute gut GvHD, a complex and life-threatening condition.
“The conference highlighted what other centres are moving to, including further immunosuppression, vedolizumab, and trials involving microbiome therapies.”
These insights are highly relevant to real-world challenges Heather is currently facing in her clinical role.
Translating Knowledge into Patient Care
Perhaps the most powerful measure of impact is how new knowledge translates to patient outcomes. For Heather, this is already happening.
She is currently involved in managing a patient with refractory acute/chronic GvHD, and the learnings from EBMT are directly informing next-line treatment decisions.
“We are introducing therapies such as vedolizumab, informed by insights from EBMT. While microbiome therapies are not yet available locally, they represent a promising future direction for paediatric care.”
This ability to bring global innovation into local practice is exactly what the scholarship aims to support.
Building Confidence and Looking Ahead
Beyond clinical knowledge, the experience has strengthened Heather’s confidence and reinforced her role within the transplant team:
“I feel more aware of what’s coming in therapies for acute GvHD… and more confident in therapeutic drug monitoring capabilities.”
It has also further motivated her to continue contributing to research and advancing care through her PhD work.
Recognising the Whole Team Behind Patient Care
Heather was particularly grateful for the scholarship recognising the importance of the wider multidisciplinary team—including pharmacists, dietitians, and allied health professionals—who are essential to patient outcomes but often overlooked.
“This scholarship means a great deal … it recognises the important contribution of the wider multidisciplinary team. Without this support, it would not have been possible for me to attend the conference.”
Her words serve as a reminder that effective transplant care is truly a team effort, and investing in all members of that team ultimately benefits patients and families.
Heather went on to say:
“Thank you for supporting healthcare professionals who contribute to HSCT care behind the scenes..Your generosity enables us to bring new knowledge and ideas back to our service, improving care and for children and families undergoing transplant.”
Looking Forward
Heather’s journey—from presenting award-winning research at EBMT 2024 to continuing her development through the 2026 conference—demonstrates the lasting impact of supporting passionate, driven clinicians.
Through this scholarship, Arrow Foundation is proud to play a part in advancing paediatric transplant care, not just in Melbourne, but through the ripple effect of shared knowledge and innovation.
Because when we invest in clinicians like Heather, we invest in better outcomes for every child and family they care for.