Ceremony completes the donor circle

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Tags: philanthropy, scholarships, summer-2011

Dr Rosamond Siemon (left) celebrates with Dr Caroline Hendry at her graduation

Dr Rosamond Siemon’s scholarship for UQ kidney research came full circle recently when its first recipient, Dr Caroline Hendry, graduated in July after breaking new ground in the lab.

A prominent historian and author, Dr Siemon made an endowment for PhD scholarships at UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience after her son-in-law died from polycystic kidney disease.

“He suffered for 20 years before his death. I didn’t want my descendants, or anyone else, to suffer like that, so I thought I would do what I could to find a solution,” Dr Siemon said.

“We will never find answers without research.”

Dr Hendry was able to take kidney disease research a step closer to finding these answers thanks to Dr Siemon’s gift. Her PhD project involved an innovative risk that would not have been possible to carry out without the scholarship.

“It’s meant an awful lot to me,” Dr Hendry said of the scholarship.

“I felt a lot more responsibility and commitment because I knew it was somebody’s personal wish to bestow this money and see something good come out of it.”

Dr Hendry has recently commenced a research job in New York at the Mt Sinai Medical Center, working in a laboratory with world-renowned stem cell experts.

By Nhi Pham

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