UK Charity Awards Alex Von Kriegsheim £200,000 to Study Role of Small Protein In the Development of Breast Cancer
Cancer mortality is closely linked to the ability of tumour cells to spread throughout the body and form secondary tumours in a process termed metastasis. During this process, individual cells detach from the primary tumour mass, invade the surrounding tissue and spread throughout the body by infiltrating the lymph and blood system. UK cancer research charity Breast Cancer Campaign announced yesterday that SBI Research Fellow Dr Alex von Kriegsheim has been awarded a grant of £200,000 to study the role played by a small protein in breast cancer metastasis.
The three year study, in collaboration with SBI and UCD Conway Institute colleagues Dr Lan Nguyen, Dr Alfonso Bolado and Prof. Liam Gallagher, PI at the Irish Cancer Society BREAST-PREDICT virtual centre, will combines mathematical modelling with biomolecular and cell biology techniques in order to understand how over expression of a small protein, ISG15, affects breast tumour and metastasis-promoting signalling pathways. It is hoped that this research can improve our understanding of ISG15 and potentially pave the way for drugs that inhibit its activity and the proteins it works with.
Katherine Woods, Research Communications Manager at Breast Cancer Campaign, said:
“Despite great advances in breast cancer research over the past 20 years, 700 women still die from breast cancer in Ireland each year. Dr von Kriegsheim’s research could bring us one step closer to our goal that, by 2020, 25 percent fewer people will develop secondary breast cancer.”
Further information:
Breast Cancer Campaign is community of scientists, supporters and people affected by breast cancer. The organisations fund world class breast cancer research projects in the UK and Ireland that provide the greatest potential to benefit patients.
BCC project page for ISG15 study
