For Audrey Bersten (BSc '49, MSc '68), science has been an enduring passion throughout her life, and one that provided her with a fulfilling career as a scientist at the University of Sydney at a time when there weren’t as many women in the field.
After graduating from the University with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Chemistry in 1949, she went from strength to strength, starting as a demonstrator in the biochemistry department at the University and working her way up to becoming one of the few female lecturers at the University.
“I had my own research project, I had my own research students, I ran my own laboratory, and I lectured,” she shares, reflecting fondly on her time at the University. She enjoyed the mental stimulation her workplace provided, seeing the University as “a place of expanding ideas.”
Images from Audrey's career at the University
The family connection
The propensity towards STEM ran in the family – Audrey’s father was a civil engineer and encouraged her learning from an early age. “He believed that a woman or anybody had to know something about science to live in the 20th century, and he encouraged me from the very beginning,” she recalls.
Audrey’s first son Howard also followed in the family footsteps, becoming a successful civil engineer and contributing greatly to the field. Unfortunately, when he was in his sixties he received some devastating news.
“Howard was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia,” Audrey shares. Her son was admitted to hospital and passed away a week later. “He didn’t die because of the leukaemia itself, but he died because of the infection that happened while he was being treated in the hospital. Because leukaemia affects the immune system, infection is very dangerous,” says Audrey.
While his sudden passing was a shock, in her eyes, it also meant that he didn’t suffer, as so many other cancer patients do. This was something that Audrey had observed first-hand, having already lost her husband and her grand-niece to the disease.
Audrey's son Howard before he passed away from complications with acute myeloid leukaemia.
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LinkLife itself is the most remarkable thing, and it is my conviction that work in this field is very important...I would like to feel that the world can become a better place.
Audrey Bersten (BSc '49, MSc '68)
Donor
Finding healing through giving
Howard’s passing was a very difficult time for Audrey. With time, she found a way to channel her grief by donating to blood cancer research through the University of Sydney.
Through her support, Audrey was connected with Associate Professor Karen MacKenzie, Senior Research Fellow and Project Manager at Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI), an affiliate of the University of Sydney. The two quickly bonded over their shared research careers, and soon Audrey had committed to further supporting Associate Professor MacKenzie and her vital research.
“What drew me to Karen was the fact that she was dealing with cancers that were little known and that they affected children,” says Audrey. “I felt that there was a need to try and find out ways in which this can be stopped.”
Acute myeloid leukaemia is a blood cancer that up until recently, was very difficult to treat and carried a very low survival rate. Thanks to research like Associate Professor MacKenzie's, treatment options are improving.
“We’re analysing leukaemia samples to look for new biomarkers that might give some insight to the biology, or might help us to discover drug targets, or could be applied in the development of diagnostics that better predict how patients' cancer might respond to treatment,” she explains. “We're analysing real patient samples and starting to get some really interesting data.”
Philanthropy is playing a critical role at the moment, whether it's big or small donations... It's helpful in both initiating and carrying on research.
Associate Professor Karen MacKenzie
Senior Research Fellow and Project Manager at CMRI
Associate Professor MacKenzie says that her research would not be possible without the support of philanthropy – funding is hard to come by, even across critical health areas such as cancer research. “People don't get funded, not because they're not doing good work, but just because there's not enough funding. Philanthropy is playing a critical role at the moment, whether it's big or small donations. It's a patchwork of funding, but it's all used. It's helpful in both initiating and carrying on research,” she explains.
Audrey hopes that her donations and the donations of others to CMRI will allow for more research breakthroughs and for an improvement in the lives of children who are diagnosed with cancer.
“Life itself is the most remarkable thing, and it is my conviction that work in this field is very important...I would like to feel that the world can become a better place,” she says.
“We do need to ensure that our children can have good, healthy lives. And CMRI, I think is doing a very good job in that respect.”