Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity and Queen Mary are pleased to announce a new PhD studentship to investigate how to prevent chemotherapy resistance from building up in osteosarcoma patients. Georgina Wherry has been selected to lead this exciting new research project.

The project will be supervised by Dr Stefaan Verbruggen at Queen Mary, in collaboration with Dr Lucia Cottone, Bone Cancer Research Trust (BCRT) Early Career Fellow at the UCL Cancer Institute, and Dr Fiona Freeman at University College Dublin.

Osteosarcoma is a rare cancer of bone tissue that primarily affects children and young adults. The disease is so rare that clinical trials for new treatments are difficult to carry out, and the most fatal challenge for patients occurs when the cancer becomes resistant to chemotherapy. Long term survival prospects are depressingly poor and innovative treatments are desperately needed.

Georgina's project will use the latest organ-on-a-chip technology to develop new drug testing platforms to accelerate the search for new treatments and reduce the side-effects experienced by patients.

Georgina is currently employed at UCL on a BCRT-funded osteosarcoma project, having previously worked as a Scientist for Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust. She studied Biomedical Science and Immunology at Kings College London and Birmingham University.

Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity was founded by inspirational horse rider, Hannah Francis. Hannah was diagnosed with osteosarcoma when just 17 years old and she established her charity in March 2016 to fund research into bone cancers and to grant equestrian-related experiences to seriously ill people and their families (Willberry’s Wishes). She named her charity after a soft toy called Willberry The Wonder Pony and used Willberry’s voice to tell her compelling and moving story on Instagram. Hannah tragically passed away in August 2016 but her memory and legacy lives on through her charity which is funding a number of research projects into osteosarcoma and granting many Willberry’s Wishes.

Georgina Wherry said, “I’m thrilled to have been offered this PhD studentship generously funded by Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity. I’m looking forward to building on my current research by developing new, patient-near models of osteosarcoma to be used in the lab to study reasons why some patients don’t respond well to chemotherapy. I’m excited to learn from my diverse supervisory team based between Queen Mary, UCL and University College Dublin, combining expertise in osteosarcoma biology and tissue engineering, and hope to contribute novel insights and progress research into osteosarcoma.”

Dr Stefaan Verbruggen comments, “Georgina's PhD project brings together experts in cancer biology and bioengineering and is an exciting opportunity to make major advances in treating this disease. Bone cancer is a devastating disease for young patients, and this work will hopefully have a real impact on their lives.”

Rachel Francis, Hannah’s mother, added, “We’re delighted to be continuing Hannah’s mission to improve outcomes for young people suffering from this hideous disease. The options for Hannah’s treatment were extremely limited and offered little hope, but being Hannah she was determined to ensure the future for others was brighter. This latest project follows a number of others already funded by her charity and more will follow thanks to the incredible support from so many.”