Professor Pam Kearns has inspired us all with her incredible work and support

This International Women’s Day we are recognising the skills and celebrating the achievements of all the amazing women who ensure we can give Hair and Hope to so many children and young people.

This includes the many hair professionals, healthcare workers, hair donors, and wig-fitters who each play their part in making our free wig provision service such a success.

The Little Princess Trust funds childhood cancer research, too, and on Friday's International Women’s Day we would like to shine a light on our many research partners - and one person in particular who has inspired us all with their work.

Professor Pam Kearns, Chair of Clinical Paediatric Oncology at the University of Birmingham, is deeply respected within the scientific community and was kind enough to share with us her vast knowledge as we began funding research to improve the lives of children with cancer.

Professor Kearns is committed to ensuring that all children with cancer have access to the best treatments and clinical trials and has been an active member on the Board of the European Society for Paediatric Onclogy (SIOP-E) since 2013, including being President from 2019 to 2021.

She has also received funding from The Little Princess Trust to investigate large cell lymphoma after successfully meeting the criteria set out by our independent research panel with her grant application.

The project, jointly led by Professor Kearns and Dr Amos Burke, has sought to identify a new medicine that helps the patient’s immune system recognise cancer cells by blocking the messages that the cancer is using to hide from the immune system.

Professor Kearns’ involvement with The Little Princess Trust has also seen her raise funds and profile for our charity.

Back in the summer of 2022, she joined a host of other cyclists in riding from London to Paris.

In addition to raising thousands of pounds, the cyclists received much media coverage which ensured many more people knew about the free availability of our wigs and our funding of childhood cancer research.

Phil Brace, from The Little Princess Trust, thanked Professor Kearns for her continued backing of our charity.

“It is always hard to single out one person for praise for a great event like International Women’s Day, but Pam’s all-round support for The Little Princess Trust really is deserving of special recognition,” he added.

“We look forward to many more years of learning from her work as we continue to fund the very best childhood cancer research projects in the future.”