Louise Davie Charitable Trust founder Steve Davie (centre) with University of Otago researchers, from left, Dr Euan Rodger, Dr Jim Smith, project lead Associate Professor Aniruddha Chatterjee and Professor Chris Jackson. A generous donation from the Trust will support the research team in the development of an early diagnostic tool for pancreatic cancer.
A major donation from the Louise Davie Charitable Trust will allow University of Otago researchers to establish a groundbreaking initiative aimed at developing an early detection test for pancreatic cancer.
Announcing the $600,000 donation to the University of Otago Foundation Trust today, Louise’s husband and founder of the Charity (LDCT), Steve Davie, says the gift honours Louise’s life and her wish to support research into early detection of the disease.
Spread over three years, the donation will support Associate Professor Aniruddha Chatterjee and his team at the Department of Pathology, in their research to develop a lifesaving, blood-based diagnostic test.
Louise spent the last 20 years of her lifelong nursing career in the Gastroenterology department at Dunedin Public Hospital, where she saw first-hand the effects of the disease. She died in December 2022, after fighting pancreatic cancer for two-and-a-half years.
Steve says one of Louise’s final wishes was to see research launched to discover an early diagnostic marker for the cancer.
“Louise and I spoke about what she’s seen over the years, what pancreatic cancer did, and she went through it herself, so we decided that if there was any way that we could help find that early diagnostic marker, which most other cancers now have, then that was the mission. So she passed the baton,” Steve says.
Pancreatic cancer has a significantly lower survival rate than most other cancers, with the five-year survival rate under 10 per cent, and fewer than 20 per cent live 12 months from diagnosis.
Early detection is key, but the cancer often presents with vague symptoms and is generally not diagnosed until the later stages, lowering survival chances.
Steve established the Trust in June 2023, with the aim of supporting research into early detection.
“Initially we thought that we would just tag into existing research, but we found there was very little even on a global scale into early diagnosis. So we changed tack, we felt we had to be the one leading that.”
After extensive research, Steve says the Trust decided to approach Associate Professor Chatterjee, who is recognised internationally for his work in DNA methylation and cancer diagnostics.
“We’re delighted to do it [the research project] through the University here, it makes sense, Aniruddha was based here, and the bulk of the initial funding was raised in this area.”
The research will be conducted in partnership with clinician-researchers Dr Jim Smith, Dr Nicholas Fischer and Professor Chris Jackson – a Trustee of the Louise Davie Charitable Trust and a member of the Union for International Cancer Control – and senior epigenetics scientist Dr Euan Rodger.
Together, they aim to establish a comprehensive epigenetic map of pancreatic cancer, with the goal of developing an accurate and early blood-based diagnostic test.
International collaboration is also central to the project, and on a recent overseas trip, Aniruddha established relationships with several groups in Australia, India, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria.
Steve Davie with his wife Louise, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2022. One of her final wishes was to see research launched to discover an early diagnostic marker for the cancer.
Aniruddha says he is deeply grateful to the Louise Davie Charitable Trust for its generous support and funding.
“Our laboratory consists of research-focused staff, but we face significant challenges due to the highly constrained research funding environment in Aotearoa New Zealand. This support from LDCT is therefore critical in helping us make meaningful progress towards better outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients,” he says.
“We have an outstanding interdisciplinary team that is well-positioned to apply cutting-edge research to identify unique epigenetic markers specific to cancer. Our goal is to develop an accessible test that can accurately estimate risk and enable the early detection of pancreatic cancer.”
He says such a test is urgently needed worldwide, as pancreatic cancer has a very poor survival rate, mainly due to late diagnosis.
“This is particularly important for New Zealand, where both incidence and mortality are unfortunately increasing.
“Our initial work will help fill this critical gap and contribute to improving patient outcomes. In the future, we aim to expand this research to develop molecular tools not only for early diagnosis but also for disease monitoring, guiding treatment decisions, and detecting early relapse – ultimately improving both survival rates and quality of life for patients.”
Aniruddha says their test looks for specific chemical marks in DNA that cause cancers called epigenetic markers, which are changes that occur in cancer genes before a cancer becomes established.
“This means our test is uniquely placed to help detect cancer at the very earliest stage.”
Professor Jackson, who was also Louise’s specialist during her illness, says Louise dedicated much of her professional life to helping people have tests in the Gastroenterology unit at Dunedin Hospital.
“It was uniquely cruel that Louise was stricken with an illness she spent many years trying to help others with,” he says.
“This Trust is a tribute to her life’s commitment to others, and our research aims to help people like Louise be diagnosed at an early stage. We want people like Louise to have a chance of cure, so they can live full lives with their loved ones unencumbered by the burden of cancer and its treatment.”
Steve, who has worked extensively in media, fundraising and event management, says he has had an amazing response to the Trust’s fundraising events, from individuals, companies and philanthropists.
An initial donation of $100,000 from Steve and his children Nevin, Tom and Belinda, was matched early by an individual philanthropist. The fundraising has been increased through a large number of donations from Dunedin and Otago people, many of whom knew Louise personally, and by way of a number of high-quality events staged by the Trust over the last two years.
He describes Louise as a very down-to-earth person, gentle, kind and pragmatic, with a special ability to put people at ease.
“And she was an amazing nurse. Specialists and her nursing colleagues would say ‘if I’m on with Louise, I know I’ll have a good day.'
"She didn't realise how highly regarded she was. Louise always had a twinkle in her eye, and an often wicked sense of humour.”
Steve says the Trust is determined to make a significant impact on what is currently an almost always non-survivable disease.
“Wouldn’t that be great, if we were sitting here in 20 years and saying well, they found that and it’s just another cancer, always detected at stage one.”
-Kōrero by Margie Clark, Communications Adviser, Development and Alumni Office
Department of Pathology
Pathology is the branch of medicine involved in understanding the causes and processes of disease.
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