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THE TALENT
LENI GREEN
STEM CELL REGULATION UNIT
PhD student Leni Green understands
the effects of cancer more than most
people. Soon after she started high school,
her father was diagnosed with breast
cancer. He sadly passed away while she
was sitting her year 12 exams.
Motivated to help others affected by
life-threatening diseases, Leni studied
Biomedical Science at uni and embarked
upon a PhD in 2013 with supervisor
Associate Professor Louise Purton. Her
project focuses on the potential of vitamin
A and its derivatives as a treatment for
certain cancers and diseases of the bone.
Leni explains that her recent work,
carried out during 4 months in the UK with
the Sheffield Myeloma Research Team at
the University of Sheffield, focuses on
multiple myeloma.
“Multiple myeloma accounts for 10%
of all blood cancers. The cancer starts in
plasma cells within the bone marrow. A
common symptom of the disease is severe
bone pain and fractures, which occur
because of holes that form throughout the
skeleton of those affected,” Leni says.
In the past year, Leni showed that
inhibiting vitamin A has potential as a
treatment for multiple myeloma, both
because it may help repair bone damage,
and also because it may have anti-tumour
properties in some cases.
Leni counts herself as lucky on two
counts: to have had the opportunity to
spend 4 months of her PhD overseas, and
because she is the recipient of a SVI
Foundation Top-up Scholarship. SVI
supporters Margaret and Tony Reeves
donated her Scholarship in memory of
Margaret’s mother, Margaret Mocatta,
who died after a battle with lung cancer.
For Leni, who knows the damage
that cancer can cause, both at a personal
and physiological level, this support
means that she can focus on her goal of
making a difference through medical
research.
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