Exhibition tells the stories of inspirational Ballarat women like FECRI cancer research Dr Sharon Olsen on International Women's Day

More at home in the laboratories of the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute than profiled in public, Dr Olsen is one of 10 women making a difference across Ballarat whose work has been showcased as part of The Women of Ballarat Exhibition, which opens on Tuesday at Coltman Plaza in Lucas.

Dr Olsen is currently researching and working with chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells, which cause one of the most common leukemias in adults, using samples in FECRI's tissue bank.

"What's really unique is the samples we have from otherwise healthy people who were diagnosed with this disease incidentally through routine blood tests, but who are otherwise healthy and just have these cancer cells circulating in the body but they are kept in balance ... and samples where the disease has progressed, people have become symptomatic and require treatment," she said.

Dr Olsen hopes comparing the symptomatic samples and the A-symptomatic samples will help reveal what has changed and what drives the disease.

"Understanding the disease more is really important ... it's the first step. The next step is finding a target you can use for treatment ... and what I'm doing will hopefully provide us with an antibody target we can use to improve treatment."

Dr Olsen moved to Ballarat 18 years ago and started working at FECRI soon after as one of three staff, and there was one student.

Now there are around 20 staff and students and, excitingly, most are women.

"There's probably more women in the lab than men. I see quite a lot of women doing science, and doing good science which is really encouraging," she said.

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"I also try to be a mentor to the younger students in the lab too as it's important to nurture young scientists."

Dr Olsen is one of 10 Ballarat women whose roles in the community have been explored for the exhibition.

Among the other women included are Ballarat Hospice Care chief executive Carita Clancy, and Jacqui MacMillan who started a Story Dogs program in Ballarat to help improve the literacy of local students as they read to dogs in schools.

"International Women's Day is a day for conversation and action. The Women in Ballarat Exhibition, hosted at Coltman Plaza, Lucas is a great opportunity to reflect on our local women of Ballarat, such as Dr Sharon Olsen, celebrate their achievements and take a leap towards equality," said Coltman Plaza marketing manager Katerina Tsamourtzis.

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