University cancer expert appointed to committee

Dr Barbara Spruce, one of the University's leading cancer experts, has been appointed to the new Scottish Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE).

Barbara is one of 17 individuals who will help to shape the future of science and technology in Scotland. The SSAC is an independent committee set-up in 2002, under the auspices of the RSE to provide independent advice to Scottish Executive Ministers on scientific issues of strategic importance.

Leader of the Translational Cancer Research group at the University of Dundee, Barbara has recently published an exciting development in her work in a prestigious American oncology journal, Cancer Research. She and her team have outlined their work on a new target for cancer treatment - the sigma receptor. It usually takes years to develop drugs for newly discovered cancer treatment targets. In this case, drugs that target the sigma receptor have been tested in humans for other medical indications, providing a potential fast-track to the cancer clinic.

Barbara said, "I am delighted to have been appointed and feel very honoured to help serve the interests of the scientific community in Scotland through the work of this important committee. I am particularly committed to the practical implementation of research and, in the biomedical sphere, the delivery of discoveries from the bench to the bedside. Key to this mission is the transfer of technology to the commercial sector in order that prospective new therapies have the best chance of reaching patients on a wide scale. Partnerships between academia and commerce, whilst not only of great potential benefit to each other in terms of revenue generation, have the potential ultimately to deliver the best drugs, their common goal."