Breast Cancer RESEARCH

Inspired to find answers for breast cancer

Dr Shuai Li

Shuai’s grant is funded by our principal supporter, the Can Too Foundation.

Shaui is based at the University of Melbourne.

Shuai received a Masters degree in Epidemiology – the study of health and disease in defined populations – at Peking University, Beijing, in 2014, before moving to Australia. He has already produced a variety of articles for respected journals, and several conference papers.

Today Shuai is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Melbourne University.

His Research

In research supported by his 2020 Cure Cancer grant, he seeks to understand why and how puberty and menopause can affect the incidence of breast cancer, and in particular which genes can be impacted by the two factors.

“My project will integrate genetic and epigenetic data to find answers,” he says. “This will provide new evidence about the causes of the disease, and if I’m successful, it could reveal prevention strategies related to female hormones and potentially pave the way for new treatments.”

SHUAI’S INSPIRATION

During his medical studies in Beijing and, later, Melbourne, Dr Shuai Li developed a burgeoning interest in why some diseases “clustered” in families. When he read a paper on the subject by Professor John Hopper of the University of Melbourne, he was inspired to study it further and get to know the author.

Shuai then attended a University of Melbourne’s international recruitment event in Beijing, which aims to head-hunt talented students, and expressed interest in going to Australia. Later, with the university’s help, Shuai contacted Professor Hopper, who encouraged him to make the move. Shuai became one of the professor’s PhD students in 2014, gaining his doctorate on links between DNA and breast cancer risk factors four years later.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FUNDING

Shuai has already gained a number of accolades in his career, having received the Picchi Award for Excellence in Cancer Research in 2018 and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from Cancer Council Victoria. But he considers his early career grant from Cure Cancer to be one of his greatest achievements.

“The best advice I’ve ever received was from my supervisor, Professor Hopper, who suggested I apply for a Cure Cancer grant.”

“This grant is extremely important to me. It’ll allow me to investigate a subject I’m interested in, and improve my track record, which could help me achieve more in my field. And personally of course it contributes to the security of my job in Melbourne, a city I love.”

Shuai is especially grateful to Cure Cancer donors and fund raisers, not just for helping researchers like himself, but more importantly for believing in them and offering hope for patients. “Such hope is vital for the people affected by cancer,” he says, “and for healthy people who may be affected in future. This is a major, ongoing motivating factor in my work.”

He believes truly dedicated researchers never give up when facing unexpected hurdles or failures. “They just try again,” he says. “Medical researchers must have qualities that include curiosity about health issues, willingness to work hard and persistence, especially seeing as getting support is so competitive.”