Major boost for research into cancer

Picture 1: Professor Jenny Southgate, Director of the Jack Birch Unit at the University of York

Picture 2, from left: York Against Cancer board members Patrick Shepherd, Keith Hayton, Gordon Topping, Professor Steve Leveson and Ian Yeowart with Professor Jenny Southgate and Dr Simon Baker at the JBU lab

York Against Cancer has made a seven-figure investment into research that could pave the way for new cancer treatments.

We have pledged £1,300,000 over five years to help scientists in our home city investigate bladder cancer, a condition with a relatively high incidence within the Yorkshire region.

The investment follows an earlier five-year programme of funding for the Jack Birch Unit, the laboratory established by York Against Cancer in 1992 in the Biology Department at the University of York.

The money supports the work of a senior scientist, Dr Simon Baker, as well as secretarial and laboratory support and a portion of the salary of the Director, Professor Jenny Southgate.

Welcoming the fresh grant aid, Professor Southgate said: “It’s fantastic news for us. We’re really excited and looking forward to the next five years.

“Our team is bursting with ideas about how we are going to use the funding to further our research.”

She said the team would be working together to investigate how urothelial cells that make up the lining of the human bladder behave in response to damage, and how this can foster the development of cancer.

The ultimate aim of the research is to identify novel treatments for bladder cancer, a disease which is little researched and for which treatment options have not improved over the past two decades.

The research could also pave the way to improve how other types of cancer are treated.

The investment is not the only development York Against Cancer is funding at the JBU. Dr Andrew Mason will be joining the unit as a proleptic lecturer in bioinformatics in November and his work, funded by our charity, could help in the development of personalised cancer treatments.

Our Chairman, Ian Yeowart, said: “Since its creation more than 30 years ago, York Against Cancer has consistently supported this world-renowned important local research and, with the help of its fundraisers, bequests and volunteers, looks forward to continuing the support alongside the many other initiatives that the charity is involved with.”