20 October 2011
AICR £200,000 grant to Dundee Researcher
A Dundee-based scientist has been awarded £202,807 by a Fife charity to investigate what makes our bodies' natural cancer fighting cells turn dangerous.
Dr Gareth Inman, Reader and Group Leader at the University of Dundee's Biomedical Research Institute, will use his three-year grant from the St Andrews-based Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) to study a protein called TGF-beta which he has previously shown to have anti-tumour properties and restricts cell growth and division.
He said: 'Healthy cells grow and multiply in a tightly controlled manner. Cancer occurs when the cells become able to proliferate in an uncontrolled manner, leading to the development of tumours'.
'However, during the growth of some tumours, they are able to switch TGF-beta from being anti-cancer to pro-cancer but how, when and where this occurs is still unclear'.
'Thanks to my AICR funding, my team and I are now investigating this important switch further, in an effort to understand the mechanisms behind it'.
'In the UK funding to drive these efforts comes largely from the voluntary sector so support of visionary cancer charities such as the AICR is crucial to help us to win the battle to defeat cancer'
Dr Lara Bennett, AICR's Science Communications Manager said: 'Understanding the basic biology of how cancer begins is absolutely critical in the quest to develop and deliver more effective and individually-tailored cancer therapies for the patient. That is why AICR is committed to funding cutting-edge basic and bench to bedside cancer research. We fund the best cancer research proposals we receive, regardless of where in the world the research takes place.'
Compiled on behalf of AICR www.aicr.org.uk by St Andrews Promotions
Contact Rosemary Dewar Tel 01334 840293 or Mobile 07743035937
Dr Inman is available for interview by emailing g.j.inman@dundee.ac.uk or by telephoning his direct line 01382 496696.
Dr Bennett can be contacted on 01334 477910
About AICR:
Unlike many UK-based charities, AICR does not confine its support to within this country. It is the leading charity funding cancer research anywhere in the world.
AICR receives no Government grants and relies mainly on fundraising for its income.
AICR currently has 197 active projects - 80 in the UK and 117 overseas; that's 188 scientists in 107 different institutions across 21 countries. AICR funds 19 different cancer types plus fundamental and all site projects, but specifically 11 prostate and 10 bowel cancer projects.
The cost of this research is £36,934,074. The average cost of a project is £165,680.
The 21 countries currently holding grants with the number of projects there in brackets, are:
Australia (17); Canada (2); Denmark (3); Finland (3); France (9); Germany (4); Greece (5); Israel (4); Italy (29); Netherlands (15); New Zealand (1); Portugal (1); Singapore (1); Spain (10); Sweden (3); Switzerland (5); USA (7); England (56); Northern Ireland (1); Scotland (19); Wales (2).
The overall spend on research to date is £146,408,757 on 1812 projects throughout 32 different countries.
For more information please visit www.aicr.org.uk.
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902 |
