00:00With her expertise, biotechnologist Dr. Sushma Rao could have worked at any leading research institute across the globe.
00:08Instead, she chose Ballarat over metropolitan centres like Melbourne and Singapore,
00:14taking a pay cut to lead pioneering cancer research in regional Victoria.
00:19Dr. Rao, who previously worked in Adelaide, Melbourne and Singapore, is now Head of Oncoproteomics at the Fiona Elsie Cancer Research Institute.
00:32The centre has grown from a disused paint shed into a fully equipped laboratory at Federation University,
00:39thanks entirely to community philanthropy.
00:41Named in honour of 14-year-old Fiona Elsie, who died of Ewing's sarcoma in 1991,
00:49after asking that research be brought to her hometown, the institute was founded in 1998 to fulfil her dream.
00:57Today, 90% of Fekri's 16 scientists are from outside Ballarat, underscoring its international pool.
01:05For Dr. Rao, the move also offered a better work-life balance and a vibrant multicultural community.
01:12The institute represents a bright hope for cancer research, proof that world-class science can flourish outside major capitals.
01:21I look now 30 years on of what's being produced and the work being done at the institute.
01:27She was right. It's happening.
01:2930 years on, it's happening.
01:32And I'm sure she's up there looking down and clapping.
01:3530 years on, it's happening.
01:40I'm sure she's in the moment, and I'm not a good one.
01:41And I'm sure she's in the moment, but I'm not a good one.
01:44I can see the division of the T
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