Continuing the fight

Although it remains an ongoing battle, in the search to find a cure for childhood cancer, every victory along the way is cause for celebration and every contributor to the cause is vitally important. So says Children’s Cancer Institute (CCI), the Australian medical research Institute, leading the way in childhood cancer research and treatment through its celebrated Zero Childhood Cancer Program (ZERO).

Over the last 40 years the Institute has changed and indeed saved the lives of thousands of children afflicted with various forms of the disease and their ongoing work through ZERO continues to make progress in research and treatments with inspiring outcomes.

In 2023 the Audi Foundation entered into a partnership CCI, helping to provide financial support for its ongoing work, as well as becoming a staunch advocate for the Institute’s life-saving work and helping to raise awareness as well as funds for ZERO.

Recently those efforts were honoured by CCI at a very special evening held in Sydney, where the Audi Foundation was the recipient of a Children’s Cancer Institute Benefactor Award for its ongoing contribution to childhood cancer research.

The evening, which was held at the Art Gallery of NSW, was hosted by David Gonski AC and featured the Institute’s Professor Michelle Haber AM and Chairman Simon Truskett, who together presented the awards to this year’s nominees.

In presenting the award, Children’s Cancer Institute cited the Audi Foundation’s sustained investment in the Institute’s work which 'provides researchers with the confidence to plan future breakthroughs with certainty’ as well as its ‘continued promotion of the Institute through magazines and customer communications [which] has amplified our reach and strengthened community engagement'. 

“We are deeply grateful to The Audi Foundation for their generosity, totalling more than $470,000 since 2023 and for their continued advocacy helping us move closer to curing every child of cancer,” said Simon Truskett.

Accepting the award on the night, Audi Foundation Chairman, Jeff Mannering, acknowledged the generosity of all of those who support the Audi Foundation, but stressed that it was those who strive tirelessly working towards a cure for childhood cancer that deserved the accolades.

“The Audi Foundation is honoured to partner with Children’s Cancer Institute and to be able to play a supporting role in the extraordinary work that they do,” Mr Mannering said.

“I’m proud to accept this award on behalf of all of those who likewise support the Audi Foundation through their generosity, but the heroes here are without a doubt the researchers and support team at Children’s Cancer Institute whose aim is a world free of children’s cancer.”

Indeed it is that goal of a world free of childhood cancer that drives everyone at Children’s Cancer Institute. Their work to date has quite literally been life changing and life saving for so many and yet there is always more to be done. The innovative approach of programs like ZERO – where each child’s cancer is recognised as unique and treatments identified that are specific to that child and their condition – is recognised worldwide, with CCI constantly looking at ways to refine and improve their approach and the outcomes for patients.

One area of refinement which has recently been recognised is that of developing a new, modern Data Lakehouse to help ZERO manage the high volume of data from thousands of children – data that is continually increasing at speed.

The new system replaces slower systems and allows researchers to make and manage the massive datasets required in analysing huge amounts of genetic and clinical data. With the system only new or changed data is processed, saving time and computing power. What’s more, the AI-driven research is faster than ever with near-instant queries.

This allows researchers to spot patterns across billions of genetic variants quickly, receive insights faster, enabling more precise, personalised treatments.

This latest innovation has been recognised for excellence, becoming the recipient of the Databricks ANZ Data & AI for Good Award. Winning this award highlights CCI’s leadership in paediatric cancer research, showing real, life-saving impact for children and families.