Bowel cancer survivor Jodie Collins has just received a research grant from the Cancer Society. Photo: Jodie Collins
A bowel cancer survivor aims to develop a "customisable" prehabilitation programme to improve the quality of life and treatment outcomes for other patients.
Jodie Collins, who was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer in 2020 at the age of 44, said long wait times for diagnosis and treatment could often leave patients feeling anxious and powerless.
"When you're diagnosed with cancer, it's quite scary and nothing is in your control, because you're waiting on tests, waiting for the specialists, waiting for the next thing.
"Exercise, nutrition etc those are things you can have control over."
Collins has a masters degree in sport and exercise science, looking at increasing muscle mass in "pre-frail" elderly, and a background in community education.
She is also deputy chair of the Australasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group advisory panel, which aims to make cancer research more "patient friendly".
"One thing I found, particularly going through my own journey, was there was a huge gap in, not only research, but also around the services that are provided in that prehab space in Aotearoa."
With a scholarship from the Cancer Society, she will start her PhD at Auckland University next year.
She plans to work closely with patients, their whānau and health services to create a programme that suits each person's needs, and supports them with exercise, healthy eating and mental wellbeing, so they feel stronger and recover better from surgery and treatment.
"It's kind of a way to embrace a wrap-around service that will hopefully give patients some control and hope that it will help when they go for their next steps."
Her personal connection with her research subject started before her own diagnosis, with her father and uncle, who both had colorectal cancer.
Her uncle, who was diagnosed in his 30s, was successfully treated.
"My father, who was in his 70s, had just eight months from diagnosis."
That family history spurred her to consult her GP, when she developed non-specific symptoms.
A colonoscopy found a large mass in her bowel and the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. It subsequently popped up twice in one of her lungs, requiring surgery.
"My last scan was clear - the first in five years - so that's pretty exciting."
This has given her the head space to throw herself into a huge research project.
"I can now think, 'What next?' Earlier, I didn't want to start something, because I wasn't sure if I would be able to see it through.
"It sounds a bit morbid, but that was my thought process."
Collins, who lives in Taupiri in rural Waikato, said she had always been drawn to "under-served communities", including rural people.
"I want to make something that works for people where they are at."
Cancer Society awards more than $1m for cancer research
Over the past 10 years, the [www.cancer.org.nz/about-us/cancer-research/national-research-grants/ Cancer Society's National Research Grants Programme] has invested more than $50m into research.
The 2025 round involves awards totalling more than $1m to fund post-doctoral fellowships, two project grants and Jodie Collins' PhD scholarship.
Cancer Society Director of Research and Innovation Christelle Jolly said the fund was a key part of the Cancer Society's commitment to supporting the cancer research workforce.
"Our support for post-doctoral fellowships has helped to propel researchers along their career path and has enabled significant progress to be made in a range of fields. We hope this new funding announced today will continue to build on that momentum."
Dr Judy Ann Cocadiz from the University of Otago has received a post-doctoral fellowship to develop a small device to capture tiny pieces of DNA in the blood stream to be analysed for signs of cancer.
A second postdoctoral fellowship was awarded to Dr Yue Wang from the University of Auckland to investigate whether blocking growth hormone could improve the effectiveness of current melanoma treatments.
University of Auckland cancer pharmacologist Associate Professor Stephen Jamieson received a grant to develop new treatments to tackle melanomas caused by a mutation of the NRAS gene, which was found in up to 20 percent of melanomas.
Dr Andrea Teng, a public health physician and senior research fellow at the University of Otago, Wellington, and her team will explore the efficiency of treatment in screen-and-treat approaches for the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, which is linked to 90 percent of stomach cancer cases.
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