Without Daffodil Day the University of Tasmania would not be able to undertake possibly life-saving research.
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Doctor Wenying Lu has been working on the links between lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease thanks to a grant from Cancer Council.
The funds were raised through Daffodil Day.
"We try to find out what has caused the patient to have COPD and then lung cancer later on because there is a high ratio that people who have COPD then get lung cancer," Dr Lu said.
She said smoking was the main cause of COPD, but there are many causes.
"In Tasmania, the smoking rate is very high. It can be some other causes too, like the environment, but in Australia the air quality is not as bad as some Asian countries," she said. "The environment, radioactivity and other things like gene changes can also cause the disease."
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The research hopes to identify ways to prevent lung cancer and has been underway for about a year.
"We have done all the experiments and now it's looking at the data and hopefully we can get some results at the end of this year," Dr Lu said.
Without Cancer Council's support the research would not have been possible.
"I graduated my PHD in 2017 and it is my first grant for my research. I'm very excited and appreciate the opportunity, so I will try my best to get the result."
The community is raising funds for four local charities as part of The Examiner's Winter Relief Appeal. Can you help?
Cancer Council Tasmania chief executive Penny Egan said research was vital to saving lives and finding less harsh cancer treatments.
"Money raised this Daffodil Day Appeal will help fund some of the brightest researchers in the country who are dedicated to discovering the next cancer breakthroughs," Mrs Egan said.
Donation tins located at:
Riverside Shopping Centre, Meadow Mews Shopping Centre, Prospect Vale Market Place, Brisbane Street Mall, Woolworths at George Town, Legana, Deloraine, Scottsdale and Kings Meadows, Mowbray Market Place, Kmart Launceston, Street Stall Campbell Town, Launceston General Hospital, Bunnings, Prospect IGA, and Longford.
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