PhD Scholarship recipient, Chelsea Valentin

The Kids’ Cancer Project awards Col Reynolds PhD Top Up Scholarship to the best and brightest post-graduate scholars to help them carry out their studies without financial pressure.

In 2024, three post-graduates have been awarded scholarships, each valued at $10,000 per year for a maximum of four years. Chosen for their ingenuity, feasibility and innovative approach to research, each budding childhood cancer researcher is a brilliant addition to The Kids’ Cancer Project’s scientific community. 

The Kids’ Cancer Project spoke with Chelsea Valentin, one of the three PhD recipients about her 2024 Col Reynolds PhD Top Up Scholarship. A PhD scholar at the University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) Behavioural Sciences Unit, Chelsea is aiming to understand the impact of childhood cancer on a child’s development, and the role of occupational therapy has in supporting participation and quality of life for kids with cancer and their families.

When and why did you become interested in childhood cancer research? 

As an Occupational Therapist with a passion for working with children, my interest in childhood cancer began during my work at three children’s hospitals across Australia and New Zealand. Those five years made me realise the very real impact cancer has on a child’s everyday activities. I saw the need to develop evidence-based procedures surrounding occupational therapy (OT) practices in childhood cancer. This spurred on my desire to add more to this field of research, with a strong focus on the development, participation and quality of life for the children and their families affected by childhood cancer.   

What was your inspiration to further your studies? 

Working alongside such hard-working childhood cancer clinicians, both medical and allied health, my appreciation of the way they integrated research into daily clinical practice grew. Clinicians are faced with many competing demands, including a lack of time for research. My dedication to become a clinician-researcher solidified while providing therapy interventions to an amazing collection of kids and their families. It was then that I realised I wanted to give them the best answers possible to all their questions about their participation in life post-cancer. Those kids are my greatest inspiration. 

What project are you working on now? What is your role? 

I recently started my PhD with UNSW’s Behavioural Sciences Unit, the largest paediatric psycho-oncology research group in the Southern Hemisphere. With the support of my exemplar supervisory team, my PhD project aims to understand the impact of cancer on children’s development and understanding the role of occupational therapy in mitigating the adverse impacts of cancer on children’s development, function and quality of life. 

Why is this research important? 

It’s truly an honour to be a clinician working directly with affected children and their families and, as such, I want to do all I can to help them. Existing literature has not provided tools or resources to address the developmental, functional and participation needs of these children. 

This dearth of evidence, particularly in the stages of early childhood and development, highlights the need to determine the effectiveness and evaluate the value of OT services in their formative years when a child has been through so much. 

This research will also aid in setting up standardised guidelines, providing a significant value to achieve gold-standard OT practice in childhood cancer. My PhD research will help clinicians, patients and their families understand how to best support the participation and development of kids undergoing childhood cancer treatment and improve their quality of life and long-term outcomes.  

How does it feel to be a recipient of the PhD Top Up Scholarship and how will it help your career? 

 I am beyond honoured to receive a Col Reynolds 2024 PhD Top Up Scholarship and have my research project supported by The Kids’ Cancer Project’s research community. It is significant to have a project that is not focused on curative options or laboratory-based medicine, supported by research committees. It shows the importance shifting research in childhood cancer from a medical model to a more holistic model of care for the children and families. 

By giving allied health research an opportunity to enhance the quality of life and participation for children and their families affected by childhood cancer, this Scholarship will directly help, not only my, but all other allied health clinicians’ careers in promoting our role in childhood cancer.

The funding to help support your PhD studies is possible thanks to The Kids’ Cancer Project’s amazing community of donors. Would you like to share a message of thanks to those donors? 

Dearest donors, thank you for making this opportunity not only possible, but also a reality for clinicians such as myself. From working directly with young patients, I see the positive impact the wider community has on each child and their family. We couldn’t get through each day without your love, support, generosity and constant advocacy for these amazing kids.

I will do my utmost to make sure my research is not only completed to its full potential, but also translated into daily clinical bedside practice, in doing that each child affected by cancer knows that they are more than their condition – they are a child with goals and aspirations. They deserve all opportunities to take part in all that life has to offer. 

Sincerely, thank you to The Kids Cancer Project and your donors, for supporting my research.