Charitable trust makes enduring impact

How one woman’s dual wish to support critical research to combat multiple sclerosis, as well as enabling more Tasmanians to further their education, is leaving a powerful legacy.

“Sometimes donor funding, like the support we are receiving from Irene’s trust, is the only thing that keeps a project going, other times it allows us to take the next critical step in developing or testing a treatment faster.”

As much as Irene’s legacy has a global impact, it also has a local focus. Scholarships bearing her name are transforming the lives of Tasmanians by allowing them to further their

This is particularly poignant, as higher education was not possible for Irene.

She attended Beaconsfield Primary School and Riverside High School, but her rebellious and independent streak saw her leave formal education at age 15.

However, these same characteristics stood her in good stead to make her own way in the world. Irene became one of the first female managers of clothing store Just Jeans, before moving to London to travel and further her career. She soon returned to Melbourne to establish her own successful real estate company.

Despite her business acumen, Irene regretted not finishing high school, which is why educational attainment is central to the Irene Phelps Charitable Trust’s mission.

The Irene Phelps Memorial Scholarship has provided Bachelor of Education student Monique Schouten with invaluable

“When I applied for the scholarship I was experiencing financial hardship and I couldn’t fall back on my parents to help with the cost,” Monique recalls.

“When I found out I had received Irene’s scholarship there was a sense of reassurance that my dream could be achieved and I am so very thankful and honoured to receive it.

“Not only has it released some of the financial stress, knowing that Irene was thinking of future students, I feel that I have the ability to pass on her message and help students with their learning needs.”

Monique would like to work as a teacher in the West Tamar Community, as a way of giving back to the local community.

On the medical research front, Irene’s trust is providing vital support for a trial to examine the safety of magnetic brain stimulation in people with MS and its effectiveness in brain repair.

The TAURUS trial, led by Menzies Institute neurologist Professor Bruce Taylor, is based on Professor Young’s previous laboratory research, which discovered that magnetic brain stimulation (MBS) increased the number of new cells added to the adult mouse brain.

“The trial targets the repair of the central nervous system in MS via a process called remyelination,” Professor Young said.

“Currently, all drug treatments available for MS target and reduce the body’s immune system attack on the central nervous system.”

It’s hoped that a treatment capable of repairing and protecting the central nervous system may be able to reverse, or even stop the debilitating symptoms associated with MS.

The trial aims to determine if the potential treatment improves symptoms of fatigue, cognition, quality of life, sleep, anxiety, or depression in 108 Australians with MS.

The trust is funding the provision of a staff member to coordinate work at each of the phase two clinical trial sites.

“We are so thankful that the trust has been able to support us in this way,” Professor Young said.

Thanks to Irene’s vision, moves to establish a world-first biobank of 140 stem cell lines generated from people with the disease is being bolstered.

Professor Young said the team is collecting stem cells from people with and without MS.

“We will reprogram them into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can be used to generate brain cells and immune cells, which are important in identifying the genetic causes of MS and developing treatments," she said.