Cancer specialist named on Honour Roll

IMMUNOLOGIST Dr Misty Jenkins is one of thirty-two women who were inducted into the 2020 Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

A brain cancer specialist at the Water & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Dr Jenkins leads the immunology research laboratory, developing ground-breaking immunotherapies for incurable forms of brain cancer.

A Gunditjamara woman who studied at the University of Melbourne, Dr Jenkins was the first person in her family to attend university, and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a postdoctoral research fellow at Oxford and Cambridge universities.

Having grown up in Ballarat, Dr Jenkins said it’s “hard to be what you can’t see,” especially for young women.

“Ballarat has produced very few scientists, but also women in leadership positions, and I think I’ve held some substantial leadership positions, both at the state and national level,” she said.

“It’s really nice to be able to represent my hometown on those various platforms and contribute to the community, not just locally, but also at a national level, advocating for women in leadership, women in science, indigenous health and education.”

Victorian Minister for Women Gabrielle Williams said the State Government is celebrating the Roll’s 20th anniversary.

“It’s more important than ever to support and honour inspiring women because there can be no gender equality without their leadership,” she said.

“Every day, Victorian women work hard to improve and enrich their communities, and by recognising them publicly we are showing young girls what they can be.”

The 2021 Honour Roll will have a Leading Through Disaster category, following the 2019-2020 bushfires season and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Six hundred women of varying ages, faiths, ethnicities, sexual identities and disabilities have been put on the Honour Roll since it launched in 2001.

Visit vic.gov.au/victorian-honour-roll-women-program to nominate a woman. Submissions close on Sunday, 31 January.