Cancer research in Yorkshire secures EU millions
Posted on 16 February 2005
The unit led by the YCR Professor of Molecular Biology, Professor Norman Maitland, is a world leader in developing treatments for prostate cancer, the second most common form of cancer in men.
The EU grant goes to a collaborative project called GIANT, headed by the YCR Unit at the University of York, and involving a total of eight laboratories and five companies, working to make gene therapy safer and acceptable in treating prostate cancer.
The EU-backed Gene Therapy Programme started in York in 2001 and was initially awarded €1.8m (£1.2 million) divided between four laboratories and one company. The project has now expanded to include eight universities and five small companies selected for their specialist skills.
Professor Maitland, YCR Cancer Research Unit Director said: "I am delighted that we have been awarded this increased European funding which will enable us to continue our work into making the next generation of gene therapy much safer for clinical patients."
I am delighted that we have been awarded this increased European funding which will enable us to continue our work into making the next generation of gene therapy much safer for clinical patients
Professor Norman Maitland
"We have set out to attract the very best of European expertise in Gene Therapy into the field of prostate cancer. The European funding has provided the adhesive to assemble an exciting international team".
Professor Maitland's research team is funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR) which is the largest regional medical research charity in the UK, financing research into the cause and cure of cancer. It provides £4 million each year for research in the region's five centres of excellence at the Universities of Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York, and their teaching hospitals. The Yorkshire Cancer Research Unit at York is a member of one of the UK's two specialist centres for prostate cancer research, set up recently by the National Cancer Research Institute. These centres are designed to bring excellence in basic research closer to the bedside to improve both diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer.
The unit is one of a number of biomedical research groups in a Biology department which ranks among Britain's largest and most successful. Biomedical research at York includes teams working on cancer, parasitology, biochemistry and structural biology. The Department also hosts a state-of-the-art Technology Centre for biomedical research.
For further information on Yorkshire Cancer Research please call
01423 501 269
Notes to editors:
- The YCR Cancer Research Unit at the University of York was set up in 1980 by the then Yorkshire Cancer Research Campaign (now Yorkshire Cancer Research, an independent charity funding cancer research in Yorkshire. Professor Norman Maitland has recently retired as Chairman of the British Prostate Group and is Co-ordinator of an international EU-funded network to develop gene therapy for prostate cancer. He is also founder of a University spin out company 'Pro-Cure Therapeutics', which also seeks to develop novel therapies for prostate cancer.
- The Department of Biology at York is one of the leading centres for biological teaching and research in the UK. The Department, with more than 400 scientific and support staff and 400 undergraduates currently has one of the highest research ratings in the UK.
- The European Union has allocated the funding to GIANT under its Framework Programme 6.