A German medical researcher is a little closer to finding a cure for an aggressive childhood cancer thanks to money raised by people in Bermuda.

Cancer charity PALS has partnered with the St. Baldrick's Foundation to fund Dr. Simone Hettmer's post-doctoral fellowship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a charity that encourages people to shave their heads to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer.

"We are thrilled to take part in this," said Ann Smith Gordon, chief executive officer and president of PALS. "We are making history here at PALS. PALS has never been in a position before to do anything like this. If it wasn't for St. Baldrick's donations it would not be possible."

Dr. Hettmer was recently in Bermuda to give a lecture for the PALS annual general meeting, and also to thank Bermudians for their generosity.

"I am studying rhabdomyosarcoma, the most common soft-tissue cancer in children and adolescents," Dr. Hettmer told The Royal Gazette. "Certain subtypes of this cancer are aggressive and have poor outcomes.

"The need is pressing, therefore, for a better understanding of rhabdomyosarcoma development."

She said rhabdomyosarcoma resembles developing muscle and it is likely to arise from the family of skeletal muscle cells. In a nutshell, she is trying to identify the rhabdomyosarcoma stem cell.

"It can be considered the stem cell that perpetuates the cancer," said Dr. Hettmer. "Even if you are capable of eliminating the bulk of the tumour by giving radiation or chemotherapy maybe those cells are not eradicated by those treatments. They may be dormant for some time and then come back."

Her plan is to then use large-scale genomic tools to investigate differences between these cells and their normal counterparts. Findings from the research will, hopefully, facilitate the development of new treatment targets in rhabdomyosarcoma.

Dr. Hettmer is pediatrician originally from Stuttgard, Germany. She is in her last year of training to become a specialist in childhood cancer.

"I did a lot of research in medical school," she said. "It was a very different project from what I am doing right now. But that was one of the things that got me involved fairly early on.

"One thing led to another. I did an internship in Germany before I came to the United States."

In Germany, medical training is slightly longer than it is in the United States.

"I ended up spending an entire year on a pediatric oncology unit," she said. "That came along because I had done a lot of research in medical school."

She described herself as "an excitable person".

"If there are challenges to a job, then you get a lot back, ultimately," Dr. Hettmer said. "It is a very rewarding field. My job is not that sad at all."

Dr. Hettmer said that she often bonds with the families she works with.

"It is my privilege and honour to be able to do all those things for the family," she said. "This is their child, and they trust me and the team and the clinic to take care of their child. That is very special. So you definitely want to live up to that challenge."

She said that as yet, she has not shaved her head for St. Baldrick's Day, which is held every year on St. Patrick's Day on March 17.

"I have done a lot of things for the sake of my medical training and the sake of my patients, but I have never shaved my head," she said with a laugh.

One of the founders of St. Baldrick's Day, Enda McDonnell said he and a group of friends thought it up when they were just hanging out together.

"We decided that life was pretty good," said Mr. McDonnell, who is Irish-born, but now living in Bermuda and working in the insurance industry. "We wanted to give something back. We came up with St. Baldrick's where we would shave our heads."

The original goal in 2000 was to raise $17,000. Since then St. Baldrick's fundraising events have spread around the world and raised somewhere in the region of $50 million.

"Our mission is to conquer childhood cancer," said Mr. McDonnell. "We do that by focusing exclusively on research."

He said shaving one's head for St. Baldrick's was a symbolic act, that gave people a little taste of what children go through when they lose their hair to chemotherapy.

"Bermuda was the first international event we have had," Mr. McDonnell said. "We have had events here since 2002. They have been organised by Steve Fallon who is now a board member of PALS. Bermuda is the largest fundraising site for St. Baldrick's. That is primarily because of the concentration of insurance and reinsurance companies here."

He said St. Baldrick's had become the defacto charity of the insurance and reinsurance industry. Many prominent local CEOs, male and female, have shaved their heads for the charity. Children have also taken part.

"Last year we had about 50 people shave their heads here in Bermuda including a number of kids at Saltus Grammar School," he said. "We are especially proud of the kids who did it. It is a recognition of their social responsibility for other kids."

Since St. Baldrick's was started, more than 70,000 people have taken part, including 7,000 women.

"For every person who shaves their head, it is a major event in and of itself," he said. "Some of them have lost loved ones to cancer.

"It becomes an enormous sacrifice, but once you shave your head you get so much more out of it than you put into it. It is a totally selfless act. For most people their hair is their crown."

St. Baldrick's funds clinical trials around the world for kids who are undergoing various therapies. In 2005, they started funding fellowships.

"The goal is that we are planting a seed into the ground," said Mr. McDonnell. "That seed will develop, and continue to blossom and give benefit to childhood cancer over a period of time."

Dr. Hettmer is funded exclusively through money raised in Bermuda through St. Baldrick's. The money goes to an account at PALS.

"We want to make clear that the money is restricted for this," said Ms Smith Gordon. "No donation given to cancer care for our patients in Bermuda goes to this. The money is exclusively through funds raised on St. Baldrick's Day."

Ms Smith Gordon said that if a local child is unfortunate enough to get cancer, the St. Baldrick's fund can help them.

"There is one child that is being helped right now," said Ms Smith Gordon. "And there has been another child who is now well.

"Mercifully, there is very little childhood cancer in Bermuda."

Mr. McDonnell said funding the fellowship also helped to strengthen the partnership between the Dana Farber Cancer Clinic and Bermuda.

"We have 20 fellowships funded so far," said Mr. McDonnell. "This is the first international one. It is very international in many ways because Simone is actually from Germany."

He praised PALS and their work with local cancer patients.

"We are delighted to see the tremendous cancer work that has been done in Bermuda through PALS," he said. "We are very proud of all of the shavees, donors and organisers of the events here in Bermuda. They are a very important part of the St. Baldrick's family. On behalf of the St. Baldrick's Foundation, we would like to express our thanks for their hard work so far. Together, we will conquer childhood cancer."