Scientist awarded prestigious scientific fellowship
Press release: 22 October 2008University of Manchester scientist Dr Gillian Farnie has become the second Breast Cancer Campaign scientific fellow in Manchester, receiving a grant worth almost £460,000.
One of only four receipients of a Breast Cancer Campaign’s scientific fellowship, Dr Farnie has also made the shortlist of the Women of the Future awards in the Science and Technology Woman of the Future category. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on 6 November.
Dr Farnie will investigate why people become resistant to breast cancer treatments. When a patient is diagnosed with breast cancer several different treatments including chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the recommended treatment options. However, approximately 30 per cent of people will develop resistance to these treatments and will see their breast cancer return.
The reason breast cancer returns is due to a particular type of breast cell called cancer-initiating stem cells (CSCs) believes Dr Farnie. Current breast cancer treatments remove the cells in a breast tumour but often fail to kill the CSCs, which then continue to divide and a new breast tumour forms.
The cancer initiating stem cells will be exposed to radiotherapy and chemotherapy in the laboratory to discover how they avoid being killed by these treatments.
Dr Farnie said “I am delighted to be one of an elite group of scientists to be awarded a prestigious Breast Cancer Campaign scientific fellowship. I aim to use my scientific knowledge of breast cancer stem cells to test new ways of improving current treatments and to get them translated into patient benefit in the not too distant future.”
Pamela Goldberg, Chief Executive, Breast Cancer Campaign, said, ‘We are delighted to award Dr Farnie our fourth scientific fellowship, the second in Manchester, and wish her well for the Women of the Future awards in November. She has demonstrated a forward-thinking and solutions-focused attitude to research and has already achieved success at a relatively early stage in her career.
“We are committed to funding the highest quality research as well as the brightest talent, and Dr Farnie’s work fits perfectly with our ethos of supporting work with the best benefit for patients.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
Breast Cancer Campaign aims to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure.
Currently it supports 110 research projects, worth over £14.3 million, in 45 centres of excellence across the UK
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and accounts for nearly one in three of all cancers in women.
In the UK, almost 46,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year - that’s around 125 a day.
Breast Cancer Campaign’s publication: Evaluation of the current knowledge limitations in breast cancer research: A gap analysis - can be viewed at http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/10/2/R26
For further information about Breast Cancer Campaign visit: www.breastcancercampaign.org
For further information contact:
Claire Learner
Breast Cancer Campaign
Tel: 020 7749 3705
Email: clearner@breastcancercampaign.org
Aeron Haworth
Media Officer
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 8383
Mob: 07717 881 563
Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk