2024
Nada Jabado
Pioneer in pediatric brain tumours wins L’Oréal-UNESCO award
2024
Pioneer in pediatric brain tumours wins L’Oréal-UNESCO award
Nada Jabado, a leading expert in pediatric neuro-oncology, has been named the 2024 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Laureate for North America.
A Canada Research Chair in Pediatric Oncology at McGill University, Dr. Jabado is committed to increasing our understanding of childhood brain tumors.
“For some tumors, we have treatments, for others, we don’t because we don’t understand very much what’s happening there. I need to understand if I want to treat them correctly. And this is what I strove to do in my research.”
Her achievements include a major discovery related to glioblastoma — a type of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in the brain or spinal cord. “I tried to understand what was driving it. And we hit the jackpot, if I can use the term, when we found the first-ever discovered histone mutation in human disease. And from there, we try to understand what those mutations are.”
That discovery has driven the development of new treatments that have improved the lives of many children with cancer.
Advances in childhood oncology give Dr. Jabado great optimism for the future. She cites the example of treating brain tumors in areas that are very hard to access: “We do a lumbar puncture, which is nothing compared to a neurosurgery.” She notes that in some other cases, once the target tumour is found, treatment is delivered via an oral pill.
“This is happening, and it is what we see happening more and more.”
The L’Oréal-UNESCO award committee noted Dr. Jabado’s work in “revolutionizing our comprehension of the genetic defects responsible for aggressive pediatric brain tumours.”
“Through her innovative research and effective leadership in establishing a global collaborative network, she has reshaped the medical approach to pediatric cancer, advancing both diagnostic capabilities and clinical treatments for young patients,” the committee said.
