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3 UCD Conway Fellows in new cancer-focused strategic research cluster

The Minister for Science, Technology & Innovation, Mr Conor Lenihan TD recently announced €5.6 million funding from Government, through Science Foundation Ireland, for the establishment of a new strategic research cluster (SRC) in molecular therapeutics for cancer. Led by Professor John Crown, consultant medical oncologist, this group of researchers will build a fully-integrated national translational cancer drug discovery and development programme that will significantly benefit cancer patients in Ireland.

Three UCD Conway Institute Fellows are amoung the four co-principal investigators in the new SRC, which has Dublin City University as lead academic institution. They are Professor Joe Duffy from St Vincent's University Hospital; Professor William Gallagher, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science and Professor William Watson, UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science The fourth co-principal investigator in the SRC is Dr Judith Harmey, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Partners in the new SRC include: Trinity College Dublin / St. James’s Hospital and Irish Cooperative Oncology Research Group. Industry Partners include: GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Novartis, Roche, Amgen, Erigal, Caliper Life Science, AntiCancer Inc.

“This SRC has genuine potential to make Ireland a leading centre for cancer drug discovery and development,” said Minister Lenihan. “Today marks the latest declaration from Government that it believes in science, and greatly values the top class collaborative research being conducted in this country”

“This SRC is a deliberate step to bring together the clinical and pharmaceutical worlds through the definition of research that is mutually important,” said Professor Frank Gannon, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland.

“The Irish Government, through the Health Research Board, as well as SFI, is reinforcing efforts in this area of translational research. In a research context, the exchange and sharing of knowledge in a cluster format provides the best possible chances of success. Collaborative activity remains a key priority of SFI’s overall strategy as it expands its research programmes, while maintaining an acute awareness of enterprise needs and commercial potential.”

SFI’s SRC programme aims to link scientists and engineers in partnerships across academia and industry to address crucial research questions, foster the development of new and existing Irish-based technology companies, and to grow partnerships with industry that will enhance the competitiveness of Ireland’s economy.

The three UCD Conway Fellows bring their collective expertise in cancer research to the grouping. Professor Joe Duffy will focus on developing new treatments to prevent the spread or metastasis of breast cancer. The formation of metastasis is the main cause of death in patients with breast cancer as in other cancers. If metastasis could be prevented, death rates from cancer would be dramatically reduced. Professor Duffy has previously been involved in research into biomarkers for predicting the formation of metastasis and is a world leader in this area of research. Several years ago, he showed that high levels of an enzyme involved in metastasis, known as UPA, predicted the early formation of cancer dissemination in women with breast malignancy. Measurement of this marker is now recommended by several expert groups in Europe and the US for identifying women with newly diagnosed breast cancer that are at high risk of developing metastasis.

A key focus of Professor William Gallagher in this SRC will be examination of the molecular basis of resistance to the commonly used hormone therapy, Tamoxifen, as well as to the leading antibody-based therapeutic, Herceptin. He also has specialist expertise in the use of in-depth functional interrogation approaches at both in vitro and in vivo levels. As a result of previous SFI equipment awards totalling almost €2 million, the Gallagher group has developed a comprehensive facility for non-invasive imaging of preclinical models. Such molecular imaging approaches (bioluminescent imaging, microPET etc.) are revolutionising the study of cancer, allowing both a sophisticated whole-organism view of tumour development and dissemination, as well as detailed analysis of the effects of new therapeutic entities. Finally, strong interaction with several leading pharma, two advanced imaging companies, as well as a major producer of radiopharmaceuticals is a central component of this work.
 
Professor William Watson’s focus in the research cluster is around the development of androgen independent prostate cancer and advanced disease. Working with the researchers in the cluster who have a focus on breast cancer, he will apply an understanding of the development of hormone independent breast cancer to the development of hormone independent prostate cancer using novel bioinformatics analysis of gene expression data generated as part of the work of the Prostate Cancer Research Consortium. This Molecular Medicine Ireland flagship programme has built a shared prostate cancer bio-resource, a powerful tool for facilitating multidisciplinary trans-institutional research to identify markers of prostate cancer and targets for therapeutic manipulation. By identifying novel targets for therapeutic manipulation and working in collaboration with the pharma companies of the cluster, Prof. Watson's research hopes to help prevent and reverse the development of hormone independence and advanced prostate cancer.