Dr Jessica Buck from UWA Centre for Child Health Research has, under a Forrest Fellowship, dedicated herself to search for answers to some of the most devastating diseases affecting children, working at the Brain Tumour Research program at The Kids Research Institute Australia.

Dr Buck has so far had a remarkable early career trajectory from being formally selected as a superstar of STEM after studying at Oxford on scholarship, to recently being awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant to investigate more effective and less toxic treatments for embryonal brain tumours.

Speaking to the Research on the Record podcast at a time she was between grant funding for her work, Dr Buck talks about the constant pressure on scientists to have to fight for their long-term research careers, and what motivates her to find innovative, improved approaches to tackling childhood cancer.

The Kamilaroi woman also discusses being a role model for female and Indigenous Higher Degree Research students – and why it’s a position she’s not necessarily proud to be in – and shares her insights with at the beginning of their academic journey.