Michelle Webster: A lifetime of giving continues

When Michelle Webster died aged just 67 after living with cancer, she made it very clear just how much she’d appreciated her many years of expert treatment in Sheffield.

Despite not being an alumna herself, the quality and impact of Michelle’s treatment moved her to leave a generous gift to the University in her Will. Her legacy is now helping drive the delivery of Sheffield’s ambitious cancer research strategy, accelerating progress in all areas of patient care. From screening to drug tests, therapies and palliation, her kind gift is significantly improving the quality of life for others with similar diagnoses.

Michelle was a much-loved teacher and friend to many, with a noted talent for music and an instinctive connection to her beloved Irish Setters. Born in Cleethorpes in 1953, she attended Cleethorpes Grammar School for Girls before studying English Literature and Music at Westminster College in Oxford, where her operatic singing shone brightly.

Inspired by her own positive experience of education, Michelle was keen to move into teaching. It proved to be a role she adored and was ideally suited to, attentively nurturing generations of young scholars over the course of her career. Her students often got to meet her first Irish Setter, Ollie, who was such a hit that many of her pupils grew up calling all Irish Setters “Ollie dogs”.

After retiring, Michelle immersed herself in the world of competitive dog shows, developing real expertise in handling and breeding. She went on to judge a number of competitions herself, and used her love of writing to make regular contributions to the Irish Setter Breeders Club (ISBC) newsletter. At the 2016 ISBC Championship, she was awarded the Carol Dines Award for significant service to both club and breed.

After her cancer diagnosis in 1984, Michelle received extensive treatment from Professor Barry Hancock, a revered medic and hugely popular Sheffield staff member whose work made a tremendous impression on her over the following years.

As Professor of Clinical Oncology at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Barry Hancock spent four decades of his life caring for patients like Michelle. 

His efforts did not go unnoticed: when Michelle left a gift of over £62,000 to support further lymphoma research at the University of Sheffield, she did so with explicit thanks for “the superb care and consideration Barry had shown her” throughout her long experience of illness.

Michelle’s generosity has helped fund an exciting research project called Development of a Lymphoma Adenovirus Therapy (LATh), led by Dr Michelle Lawson and Professor Munitta Muthana.

Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that affects white blood cells called lymphocytes, and current treatments can often lead to drug resistance and relapse.

The LATh project takes a different approach, focusing on developing and evaluating the use of cancer-killing agents known as oncolytic viruses. These viruses target and destroy cancer cells without harming healthy ones, and are already approved for the treatment of melanoma. LATh is a genetically modified Adenovirus therapy, aiming to achieve more efficient infection and elimination of lymphoma cells.

The University of Sheffield is so thankful for Michelle’s kindness in leaving this gift in her Will. Her powerful and enduring show of support will have a real impact on the development of effective cancer treatments long into the future, and her legacy will help change the course of cancer research in Sheffield and beyond.

“Successfully treating refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma remains an unmet clinical challenge, and Michelle’s donation has allowed us to take significant steps in tackling it.”  Dr Michelle Lawson University of Sheffield Researcher.