Jackal69
Well-Known Member
Apple peelings and fish oil.
That might sound like an odd combination, but Dalhousie University PhD candidate Wasundara (Wasu) Fernando thinks it might just be the perfect one to help treat breast cancer.
“I am so happy because I can continue my research and contribute to the cancer research effort,” Fernando said Saturday about the $17,850 grant she received through the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Training Program award.
Fernando, 31, is a pharmacy graduate from the University of Colombo in her home country of Sri Lanka. In 2010, she joined the faculty of medicine at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Sri Lanka but took a leave from that university two years later to further her studies in Canada at Dalhousie's agricultural campus in Bible Hill.
As an undergraduate back home, Fernando said she worked on research projects with leaves and plant extracts. Fernando came to Canada in September 2012 and completed her master's degree from Dalhousie this spring. Fernando is now pursuing her doctorate from Dalhousie's Department of Pathology.
Under the supervision of Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe, Fernando will continue her work of studying molecules in certain foods that could potentially treat breast cancer.
“My research is based on a compound, a combination of apple peels and fish oil,” Fernando said. “I'm very excited about it.”
The Beatrice Hunter program, supported by the Terry Fox Strategic Health Research Training Program in Cancer Research in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is offered twice yearly to students involved in cancer research at Atlantic Canadian universities. Fernando is the only Dalhousie recipient.
Fernando is probing anti-cancer properties found in natural compounds of apples and fish oil that can be combined to treat triple negative breast cancer, a type of the disease that has a low prognosis and reportedly can't be treated by hormone therapy or Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 therapy.
Fernando is researching other ways to treat this type of breast cancer.
“In my thesis research, my findings so far indicate that the combinations of these compounds (apple peels and fish oil) do in fact show promise as a treatment for triple negative breast cancer.” she said.
Fernando hopes to apply her research well beyond Canada.
Upon completion of her Ph.D., Fernando will resume her duties at University of Sri Jayewardenepura and continue her breast cancer research.
That might sound like an odd combination, but Dalhousie University PhD candidate Wasundara (Wasu) Fernando thinks it might just be the perfect one to help treat breast cancer.
“I am so happy because I can continue my research and contribute to the cancer research effort,” Fernando said Saturday about the $17,850 grant she received through the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Training Program award.
Fernando, 31, is a pharmacy graduate from the University of Colombo in her home country of Sri Lanka. In 2010, she joined the faculty of medicine at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Sri Lanka but took a leave from that university two years later to further her studies in Canada at Dalhousie's agricultural campus in Bible Hill.
As an undergraduate back home, Fernando said she worked on research projects with leaves and plant extracts. Fernando came to Canada in September 2012 and completed her master's degree from Dalhousie this spring. Fernando is now pursuing her doctorate from Dalhousie's Department of Pathology.
Under the supervision of Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe, Fernando will continue her work of studying molecules in certain foods that could potentially treat breast cancer.
“My research is based on a compound, a combination of apple peels and fish oil,” Fernando said. “I'm very excited about it.”
The Beatrice Hunter program, supported by the Terry Fox Strategic Health Research Training Program in Cancer Research in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is offered twice yearly to students involved in cancer research at Atlantic Canadian universities. Fernando is the only Dalhousie recipient.
Fernando is probing anti-cancer properties found in natural compounds of apples and fish oil that can be combined to treat triple negative breast cancer, a type of the disease that has a low prognosis and reportedly can't be treated by hormone therapy or Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 therapy.
Fernando is researching other ways to treat this type of breast cancer.
“In my thesis research, my findings so far indicate that the combinations of these compounds (apple peels and fish oil) do in fact show promise as a treatment for triple negative breast cancer.” she said.
Fernando hopes to apply her research well beyond Canada.
Upon completion of her Ph.D., Fernando will resume her duties at University of Sri Jayewardenepura and continue her breast cancer research.
