When Sydney jeweller Sarah Gardner decided to run a small fundraiser through her business, Sarah Gardner Jewellery, she hoped it would raise awareness and contribute in some small way to blood cancer research.
What she didn’t expect was that her effort would spark a chain of events that has led to a novel immunotherapy now moving toward a first-in-human clinical trial.
Sarah was originally diagnosed with essential thrombocythaemia in December 2021. After a third opinion, her diagnosis changed to myeloproliferative neoplasm unclassified, or pre-myelofibrosis.
Like many people diagnosed with cancer, the uncertainty was confronting.
“I was really scared and felt a great sense of anxiety about all the unknowns,” Sarah said.
“My biggest fear was leaving my daughter without a mother or being a very different version of myself.”
Motivated by a desire to raise awareness, and to inspire her 10-year-old daughter Rose, Sarah decided to act.
“When I started fundraising, I wanted my daughter to see that you can make a change.”
“I couldn’t believe that blood cancers are the second most diagnosed cancers in Australia and yet no one seems to know that,” she said.
Using her business as a platform, Sarah organised an event, including a raffle that raised $30,000 for blood cancer research.
The funds were channeled through Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Alliance Australia (MPNAA) and the Leukaemia Foundation into SAHMRI’s Blood Cancer Program, led by Professor Daniel Thomas, which supported the research of Dr Chloe Thompson-Peach.
The donation helped Dr Thompson-Peach pursue an innovative idea and generate the evidence needed to secure a four-year Cancer Council SA Early Career Fellowship.
“Sarah’s initial funding turned out to be career-launching,” Dr Thompson-Peach said.
“It allowed me to pursue a high-risk idea at an early stage and generate the evidence needed to take my research further.”
Through her fellowship, Dr Thompson-Peach is now leading new research into CALR-driven myelofibrosis, targeting mutations to change the course of the disease before it progresses. It’s work that’s directly relevant to people like Sarah who have MPN unclassified or pre-myelofibrosis. What began as exploratory has since shaped the direction of Dr Thompson-Peach’s postdoctoral program and contributed to the development of a new immunotherapy, now progressing toward a first-in-human clinical trial expected to start in the next year.
“We knew we were onto something, but Sarah’s contribution allowed us to keep building tools and models we simply wouldn’t have had otherwise,” Prof Thomas said.
“Those tools have led directly to the development of a new therapy for many subtypes of myelofibrosis within less than 12 months.”
This early work has also opened the door to launch additional projects now being undertaken by Dr Thompson-Peach’s PhD student, further expanding the impact.
Sarah’s story illustrates the ripple effect a single donation can have, from supporting an early-career researcher to helping advance new treatment approaches.
On Wednesday 9 September 2026, SAHMRI will join more than 30 of Australia’s leading medical research institutes for the inaugural Medical Research Giving Day, a national campaign designed to inspire community support for life-changing medical research.
SAHMRI’s focus will be the establishment of a new Clinical Trials Fund. The Fund will provide vital seed funding to help researchers generate the evidence needed to progress promising discoveries from the laboratory into clinical trials and, ultimately, improve patient care.
The campaign will also encourage South Australians to register their interest in participating in future clinical trials, recognising that advancing medical research relies not only on philanthropy, but also on the generosity of volunteers willing to take part in research.
Inspired by the impact of her initial fundraiser, Sarah has since gone on to raise a further $150,000 for MPN awareness through raffles, events and a silent auction. Sarah said the impact still gives her goosebumps.
“Being able to show Rose what that one decision has led to is incredibly special,” Sarah said.
“From little things, big things grow.”
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