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EU award €18 million for Conway-led cancer research
UCD Conway Director, Professor Walter Kolch and Conway Fellow, Professor William Gallagher from the UCD School of Biomolecular & Biomedical Science will lead two cancer research projects worth €18 million under the latest round of the EU 7th Framework Programme for Research (FP7). Every year, between 7,500 and 8,000 people die of cancer in Ireland.
The first project, awarded €12 million by the EU, will explore genetic mutations that lead to the development of cancer cells. This project will focus on understanding childhood cancers.
“The success of our funding application shows that Ireland can be a major player in the future research landscape of Europe,” says Professor Walter Kolch, Director of Systems Biology Ireland at University College Dublin, who is leading this research.
“This collaborative effort involves basic and clinical research groups across Europe. Using a systems biology approach we will draw on combined expertise to turn a wealth of genetic data into a roadmap for understanding the processes behind the development of cancer cells.”
The second project, awarded €6 million by the EU, will investigate possible treatments for difficult-to-treat types of breast cancer.
“At present, there is a lack of targeted therapies for two poor-prognosis subtypes of breast cancer namely ‘triple negative’ breast tumors and invasive lobular carcinomas of the breast,” says Professor William Gallagher from the UCD Conway Institute who is leading this research. “Together these subtypes make up almost 25% of all breast cancers.”
“Our research will explore the role of kinases – the key regulators of cell function - in these types of breast cancer in order to develop therapeutic targets that may inhibit the rate of activation of kinases in cancer sufferers.”
According to Dr Stephen Simpson, Director of Life Sciences at Science Foundation Ireland, ‘the securing by UCD researchers of large-scale European investment is testament to their scientific ingenuity.’
“This latest success for Irish-based research demonstrates how strategic and targeted investment by agencies such as Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Enterprise Ireland (EI) and the Irish Development Authority (IDA) contributes to a flourishing research environment and our international reputation,” he said.
“We have been successfully attracting world-leading researchers to these shores and have fostered greater levels of collaboration between the academic and commercial sectors - all of which is evidently bearing fruit. This announcement represents a hugely significant achievement by UCD and reaffirms its status as a leading research hub.”
“The fact that two SFI-funded PIs will lead these major EU investments is a testament to the strategy for research investment in Ireland’, said Prof. Des Fitzgerald, Vice-President for Research at UCD.
“Walter Kolch is the Director of the SFI Centre for Science Engineering and Technology for Systems Biology, an emerging science that brings together computational scientists and biologists to solve large-scale problems in biomedical research. As recognised by the EU grant, this has the potential to unravel complex questions such as the origin of rare tumours..”
“William Gallagher with his collaborator John Crown has developed an SFI Strategic Research Cluster that aims to identify biomarkers for cancer. The discovery of biomarkers for specific cancers has the potential to identify tumours early, aid in tailoring therapy and assist in detecting recurrence following treatment. This is a key objective in the EU strategy for developing innovative medicines and the award demonstrates Professor Gallagher expertise and reputation in this area.’
Both cancer research projects coordinated by University College Dublin and involving partners across the EU will run for five years.
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