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York scientists win research accolade

Posted on 15 March 2012

A team of scientists has received a top award in recognition of research on bladder tissue engineering carried out at the Jack Birch Unit at the University of York.

The researchers’ paper, describing an improved tissue engineering technique which aims to replace a diseased bladder using a patient’s own cells grown in a laboratory, was selected as the Best Fundamental Research Paper by a young urologist published in European Urology in 2011.

The award, made by the most prestigious peer-reviewed journal in the Urology field, was received on behalf of the team by lead author Alex Turner during the 27th Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology in Paris.

Alex Turner carried out the research during his PhD studies at the University of York, while holding a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellowship. He was supervised by Professor Jenny Southgate, Director of the Jack Birch Unit in York’s Department of Biology.

This award from the urology community is a great honour and recognises the groundbreaking work being done at the Jack Birch Unit at the University of York

Alex Turner

Alex Turner, who is now a Specialist Registrar in Paediatric Urology at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, said: “This award from the urology community is a great honour and recognises the groundbreaking work being done at the Jack Birch Unit at the University of York. Tissue engineering is no longer a theoretical exercise but is beginning to be used clinically to treat an array of medical problems, and this research will be particularly encouraging for those with major bladder abnormalities.”

Research in the Jack Birch Unit at York concentrates on epithelial tissues, which give rise to more than 80 per cent of all adult human cancers. Its main focus is on bladder cancer which is the UK’s seventh most common cancer, with over 10,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

Professor Jenny Southgate, Director of the Jack Birch Unit, said: “We are thrilled to have been honoured with this award, which recognises the excellent research carried out by Alex and the rest of the team here in York and with our collaborators at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust.”