UCC scientists received three of the nine awards granted to Irish third level institutions for cancer research at the recent annual Irish Cancer Society Research Awards Ceremony.

 

PhD student, Michael Coleman, received a Research Scholarship to complete his thesis on breast cancer research under the supervision of Professor Rosemary O’Connor, Department of Biochemistry. Michael’s research is focused on understanding breast cancer invasion. Professor O’Connor’s research group has identified a biological marker that may flag the potential for breast cancer cells to become invasive. Michael’s research will test how effective the marker is at predicting invasiveness in breast cancer.

James Evans was also awarded a Research Scholarship for research in the area of prostate cancer under the supervision of Professor Caitriona O’Driscoll, School of Pharmacy.  James hopes to  improve on existing prostate cancer treatments by designing a gene-based therapy.

A Research Fellowship was awarded to Dr Michelle Nyhan who is working on oesophageal cancer at the Cork Cancer Research Centre, UCC in Dr Sharon McKenna’s research group. Michelle’s project is investigating why some cancer cells do not die in response to chemotherapy drugs.

The Fellows and Scholars awards are designed to foster home-grown cancer research talent in Irish educational institutions and to ensure that new research projects are undertaken on breast, oesophageal, colorectal, gastrointestinal and prostate cancers.  The research projects span a wide range of research areas and will investigate a number of potentially important topics, such as the response of cancer cells to chemotherapeutics and the manner in which they interact with our immune system.

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