WORLD-CL ASS MEDICAL RESEARCH
Medical research scholarship pays it forward “Any mother that scours the planet for a top
“We feel she would be very satisfied with our choice.”
plastic surgeon should not have to pay.”
Catherine describes the delight of seeing her various philanthropic endeavours transform people’s lives.
These were the words relayed by Helene Matterson to her child that planted the first philanthropic seed in the mind of a young Tasmanian. Years earlier, Catherine Matterson (LLB Hons 1993) received cutting-edge medical treatment for a burn she suffered as a three-year-old and, thanks to her mother’s determination, she became a “guinea pig for childhood burns research”.
And she delights in meeting the recipients of the scholarship set up in her mother’s honour, students like Grace Russell. “I met Grace at a morning tea event in 2021 and she told me about her incredible research on Tasmanian devils and cancer markers.
“I was the first child in Australia to receive the skin suits created through medical research in the USA in cooperation with NASA,” Catherine said.
“My father passed away from cancer almost four years ago, so I was very happy her research involved trying to find a cure for this scourge.
As she grew, Catherine would fly to Sydney to get ‘fitted’ for a new suit and see her main surgeon, an elderly British gentleman, Mr Huston, who visited Australia for half the year.
“I am so impressed by Grace, her intelligence, confidence and tenacity, and feel grateful that she has chosen to study in Tasmania, a State with an aging population that appears to have a very high incidence of cancer and other debilitating diseases.”
“When I was older, my mother told me that Mr Huston had never sent her a bill for my surgeries. This act is partly what drives me to pay it forward.” Dinner table discussions about the importance and impact of giving also played a part in shaping her psyche.
Catherine’s late father, Ian Matterson (LLB 1966), Tasmania’s longest serving Magistrate, also supported Menzies by volunteering to be the fundraising Chair for Menzies.
“For all of my childhood I recall my mother supporting the Royal Hobart Hospital, Calvary Hospital, the Royal Society for the Blind and many other Tasmanian charities by volunteering on various committees and by donating funds.
Catherine is also a successful lawyer, despite her parents warning her against a law career.
“She and some of her friends were the first active fundraisers for motor neurone disease (MND) in Tasmania.”
When her father died in 2018, Catherine established the Ian Matterson Memorial Prize for perseverance in torts.
Helene (LLB 1967) studied law at the University of Tasmania, one of only two women in her year.
“I chose a perseverance prize because a) Dad failed torts the first time around! And b) we, as a society, typically already favour the achievements of top students.
In 2001, Catherine lost her mother and grandmother. “The family wanted to find ways to honour them and their passion for Tasmania,” Catherine said. Soon after her death, the family set up the Helene Matterson Medical Research Scholarship. “Over the past 20 years of supporting the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, we have seen the impact it has had in our State in terms of medical research.
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Catherine is currently the General Counsel, Head of Legal and Compliance, at a USA-based software corporation.
“Nonetheless, there are also some less gifted or challenged students who through hard work, effort and perseverance succeed, and while their final grade may not be an A, I wanted to recognise this. And I thought Dad would too.”
