Thanks to our incredible supporters, we are today announcing a £2.5m funding boost for our Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London, which will be marked by an event for Member Charities at the Research Centre.
The award will enable researchers to develop personalised treatments for glioblastoma and continue to develop gentler, more effective therapies for childhood brain tumours, including medulloblastoma, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and ependymoma, for which current treatments are gruelling and can cause lifelong side effects and disabilities.
The news is particularly welcome to our Member Charities In Sue’s Name and The William Low Trust which are attending the lab tour today. In Sue’s Name has so far sponsored research to the tune of £540,000 at Queen Mary, after founder David Taylor (pictured above) lost his eldest daughter Sue Blasotta (pictured top left), mother of two young children, to a glioblastoma, aged 42.
The William Low Trust has contributed £145,000 to Queen Mary after parents Helen and Craig (pictured below with daughter Harriet) lost their son William (pictured top right) to a medulloblastoma aged 17, with which he had been diagnosed aged just five.
Professor Silvia Marino (top centre), Professor of Neuropathology and Lead Investigator of our Centre at Queen Mary, said: “High-grade brain tumours are challenging. To find new approaches to treat them more effectively, we had to go all the way back to the cells they originate from and understand in depth how they transform into a tumour in individual patients. We are thrilled to receive this funding now, at a time when our basic research is closer than ever to clinical translation.
“This funding will also allow us to continue supporting the next generation of scientists working in brain tumour research and build essential capacity in the field.”
Help us continue to invest in sustainable, long-term research and make the ground-breaking discoveries needed to find a cure for all types of brain tumours by making a one-off or regular donation.
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