Top honours for Professor Joy Ho.
Congratulations to Professor Joy Ho who was recently featured in a Sydney Morning Herald story showcasing past top HSC students and their subsequent careers. Professor Ho was music captain and scored highest in French and English during her HSC, but always knew she wanted to go into medicine.
Extract from The Sydney Morning Herald, December 13, 2022.
‘They topped the HSC decades ago. here’s where they ARE now.’
When Joy Ho used her HSC marks in French and English to get into medicine 40 years ago, she had no idea her interest in languages and literature would help advance the treatment of blood diseases across the world.
“The HSC is only the beginning of another stage,” the former Loreto Convent Kirribilli music captain said.
“There’s so many opportunities, so I would encourage young people to keep their eyes open and never be discouraged.”
Now she is the director of hematology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and has contributed to the field internationally, developing various tests and advancing immunotherapy techniques for blood diseases.
1982: Forty years ago
While Ho was completing her HSC in the 1980s, the medical profession was grappling with the transmission of potentially deadly blood-borne viruses, such as hepatitis and HIV.
Her work in the field over the past decades has been crucial in bringing therapies to Australian patients and is now crucial in bringing new treatments.
“Bringing really novel therapies such as CAR T-cell therapy to Australia is so important,” she said. “It’s really very exciting.”
The therapy involves using genetically engineered cells to produce a receptor that is used in immunotherapy for cancers and autoimmune diseases.
“The HSC is only the beginning of another stage.”
But her high school interests remain with her today.
“I look after patients in New Caledonia, so I get lots of opportunities to practice my French,” she said.
“Having a wide range of interests has made me more whole as a person but also enhances our ability to work well and engage with people.”
Her advice for HSC graduates is to remain optimistic.
They topped the HSC decades ago where are they now.
By Millie Muroi and Billie Eder.
The Sydney Morning Herald - December 13, 2022.