St Vincent’s Cell Therapies Program

Delta Goodrem with Dr. Richard Gallagher at St Vincent’s Hospital.
Delta Goodrem visits with patients at St Vincent’s Hospital.

Delta’s journey with St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney goes back to 2003 when she began treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at just 18. Delta has been the Patron of The Kinghorn Cancer Centre since 2009 and in 2015 was appointed the Ambassador for the new Haematology, Blood and Marrow Transplant Ward at St Vincent’s Hospital. This state of the art facility for patients with haematological cancers and severe autoimmune diseases provides not only the most advanced treatments but allows privacy and dignity for patients in their time of need. Delta was crucial in helping to raise $7.3 million in private funding to build the new dedicated ward, performing at private dinners, gala events and attending hard-hat tours with major benefactors to the project.

Continuing her loyal support of the St Vincent’s Hospital campus, Delta has recently confirmed her role as Ambassador of the St Vincent’s Cell Therapy program which aims to advance novel stem cell treatments for haematological cancers and autoimmune diseases.

“I call them my angels. The compassionate environment, kindness and care that I received there made me feel secure and protected, even though it was a hugely frightening time for me and my family. I put my complete trust in my team at St Vincent’s,” says Delta.

The Delta Goodrem Foundation is proud to announce that to honour Delta’s connection to St Vincent’s Hospital and her commitment to helping the doctors, her new Foundation will help to advance vital research to find a cure for blood cancers like Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with the Delta Goodrem Foundation Fellow in Cellular Therapies.

The Delta Goodrem Foundation Fellowship in Cellular Therapies at St Vincent’s Hospital will enable an emerging clinical researcher to undertake research into the role of cell therapies in treatment of malignant and autoimmune disease. Cell therapies has the potential to transform bone marrow transplantation and cure many types of blood cancers and other diseases as well as help to fight infection and increase immunity. Based at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, the Delta Goodrem Foundation Fellow will be a doctor working at the same time as a researcher so they can find the best solutions for each patient. 

“I am proud to be able to support the St Vincent’s multi-disciplinary team of experts providing advice and support for patients on their cancer journey at the world class Kinghorn Cancer Centre,” says Delta. “My goal as a cancer survivor who battled Hodgkin’s Lymphoma as a teen is to give people battling cancer hope and ensure they experience the kindness and compassion that I did. I am adamant that I want to secure a brighter future for people with cancer and my support for St Vincent’s is part of this effort”.

What is Cellular Therapies and how it brings hope to cancer patients?

Cellular (or cell) therapies uses a patient’s own cells as treatment. It has the potential to transform bone marrow transplantation and cure many types of blood cancers and other diseases as well as help to fight infection and increase immunity.

St Vincent’s has been at the forefront of the development and application of Cellular Therapies with success in using Autologous Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation to improve treatment of malignant cell disease such as Leukaemia and Lymphoma as well as severe autoimmune diseases.

The Delta Goodrem Foundation will be supporting St Vincent’s Hospital’s vision to now build a world-class unit leveraging their clinical and laboratory expertise in Cell Therapies.

St Vincent’s goal is to bring together their lab research and patient trials along with their international collaborations to rapidly advance novel therapies and interventions that will alleviate the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of people worldwide afflicted with malignant and auto-immune diseases.  This goal is fully aligned with the Delta Goodrem Foundation’s vision to provide hope through cancer research and compassionate care.

With The Kinghorn Cancer Centre and the St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research, St Vincent’s has a distinct advantage in translating research into clinical practice and to developing new cell-based treatments. Many of St Vincent’s scientists also work as clinicians and St Vincent’s has a growing pipeline of their preclinical work which could be translated into new therapies that bring direct benefits to patients.

An emerging area of the Fellowship will be the innovative process of CAR-T cell therapy or “adoptive immunotherapy”, which uses a patient’s own immune cells to seek and destroy cancerous cells. This exciting new therapy has been shown to be particularly effective for younger cancer patients.

For more information, please visit: www.supportstvincents.com.au/about-us/our-stories/delta-goodrem-foundation

Help Delta in her mission to support the St Vincent’s Cellular Therapies Program – Donate Here.