In a small village in northern Italy, long before Professor Nick Gottardo became an internationally recognised paediatric oncologist, a childhood tragedy gave him a sense of purpose that would stay with him for life.
That experience, and his conviction that no child should die from cancer, has guided his career and now provides the foundation for his appointment as the inaugural endowed Chair in Children’s Cancer (Clinical Director) at the WA Comprehensive Kids Cancer Centre, a position made possible through the generous support of the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation.
Professor Gottardo sees the appointment as an opportunity to turn decades of research and clinical experience into better outcomes for WA children and their families, bringing discoveries from the laboratory to the bedside faster and giving more children access to cutting-edge treatments closer to home.
Image: Professor Nick Gottardo
Why paediatric oncology?
I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was six. I grew up in a small village in northern Italy, where family friends who were doctors left a lasting impression. This inspiration turned into a passion for paediatric oncology after a sad childhood event in our village around a young girl, two years older than me. She needed a blood transfusion as part of her leukaemia treatment, and I still remember the night my father was called to donate blood for her. Sadly, she died a few days later and the impact on my father, who is now 78, was profound; to this day, he still carries a photo of her in his wallet. The circumstance planted in me a belief that no child should die from cancer, and that we owe it to kids like her to do better.
How can we do that and what are your plans for the next five years as the inaugural Chair?
My goal is to create real outcomes for Western Australian families – faster, safer pathways from laboratory discovery to treatments we can offer at the bedside. I want the WA Comprehensive Kids Cancer Centre to be a place where laboratory research and clinical care sit side-by-side, so more effective and less toxic therapies move quickly and safely into clinical trials. We’ve already built the foundations with our Early-Phase Clinical Trials Centre and look to expand that over the next five years, so more children here have access to cutting-edge, targeted therapies and immunotherapies, without families needing to travel interstate or overseas.
How does philanthropic support enhance your work?
Philanthropic support has been the backbone of our research, especially at the very beginning of an idea, where it matters most. It lets us take the first, riskiest step – testing a new idea or generating proof-of-concept data – which is extremely important in paediatric cancer. As childhood cancers are rare and diverse, commercial and government investment in them is limited. Without philanthropic funding, such as investments by the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, willing to back that early risk, many of our discoveries would never have been made.
"In this sense, philanthropic support doesn't just fund innovation, it makes innovation possible."
Professor Nick Gottardo
What keeps you hopeful for the future?
The drive to cure every child with cancer, without lasting side effects, is what keeps me hopeful.
Over my career, treatment has changed immensely. It has moved from harsh, broad-acting chemotherapy and radiotherapy to targeted therapies that give children a real chance at a long life, with far fewer side effects. We now understand what drives many childhood cancers at the genetic level, and that allows us to develop far more precise and less toxic therapies.
The WA Comprehensive Kids Cancer Centre is proof of what's possible when a community decides that childhood cancer isn't acceptable. It has supercharged our research and clinical trial capabilities, so WA children can now take part in world-first trials without leaving home.