THE COMMUNITY is encouraged to donate towards cancer research when dining out this month.
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The Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute's Restaurants for Research fundraising initiative will run for its second year this October, with diners encouraged to donate $2 in addition to their bill to support cancer research.
The institute receives no government funding and relies on funds donated by the community to undertake its internationally recognised research.
A number of restaurants have jumped on board including The Boatshed, Underbar, the Pub with Two Names, Mitchell Harris, Table 48 and Pipers.
The Boatshed manager Damian Pearson said the restaurant's customers had been very supportive of the "great cause".
"Many Ballarat people are aware of FECRI and what they do so they want to support it," he said.
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Institute Director Professor George Kannourakis said it was hoped the campaign would engage with the wider community to raise funds for the Ballarat-based research program.
"Our every step towards beating cancer through research is made possible by the generous support of our community," he said.
"We hope the community will support this campaign while eating out in October and are incredibly grateful to all participating restaurants for their support."
With one in two people diagnosed with a form of cancer before they turn 85, most people are touched by cancer in their lifetime.
The institute currently has nine Federation University Australia PhD students and 11 senior scientific staff working towards better outcomes for people who are diagnosed with cancer.
The institute has had a number of recent breakthroughs including identifying a potential new immunotherapy target for ovarian cancer, discovering that immune cells in the walls of the bowel can misbehave and release chemical messengers promoting bowel cancer, identifying a new immune cell subset in histiocytic disorders, identifying a new method of isolating viruses and has undertaken immune studies in various cancers.
The institute will also host an open house next Thursday, October 17 from 6pm, at which community members will be able to hear about the ground-breaking cancer research being conducted on the doorstep in Victoria's only regional cancer research facility.
The community will have the chance to tour the medical research laboratory and converse with researchers about their work, which is focused on a range of projects from immunology to ovarian cancer.
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