Bereaved Cambridgeshire mum welcomes news
A mother, from Balsham in Cambridgeshire, whose son died from a brain tumour, is welcoming a pioneering funding programme by The Brain Tumour Charity.
The scheme aims to speed up translational research – the process of getting promising laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients.
Claire Kavanagh’s son Niall died in 2021 just three weeks after he was diagnosed with glioblastoma. He was 19.
She says she’s pleased to hear the news that the charity is announcing its first ‘Translational Award.’ She’s now in training to trek Machu Picchu next month to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity.
‘Fundraising and investment in research into brain tumours is so important to help prevent other families from going through the pain and heartbreak of losing loved ones who should be here with us.’
The Award, worth £1.2m, will fund three research projects over the next 18 months – two of which ultimately aim to run clinical trials testing new ways to treat glioblastoma.
Laboratory discoveries about relatively rare conditions, like brain tumours, often stall at that stage due to the complexities involved in replicating those findings in humans.
Other factors include the cost of developing new medications at scale – and investors’ doubts about financial return. The Brain Tumour Charity’s Translational Award aims to overcome those obstacles.
Niall: photograph courtesy of Mum, Claire (provided by The Brain Tumour Charity)
Nanotechnology, new drugs and immunotherapy
The charity says the announcement means a number of projects can proceed. This includes work by Professor Maya Thanou at King’s College London.
They’re combining nanotechnology, with focused ultrasound, to help drugs penetrate the blood brain barrier and reach the glioblastoma tumour directly.
It also allows Dr Michael Hudson at Gordian pharma Ltd to test whether delivering a new drug in a paste at the site left, following surgery, can prevent glioblastoma regrowth. This would be in conjunction with existing treatments.
The announcement also means Professor John Anderson at UCL’s Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health can examine a new CAR-T cell immunotherapy to treat children with low or high grade brain tumours.
The projects were selected by The Charity’s Translational Advisory Board from a shortlist of nine and an initial 27 enquiries from research teams in both academia and industry.
‘We have developed our bespoke Translational Award to ruthlessly evaluate and drive the best concepts forward,’ explains Dr Simon Newman, Chief Scientific Officer at The Brain Tumour Charity.
‘Our aim is to accelerate success or fail ideas faster if they cannot be translated. Through partnerships, we will develop industry-like standards of drug development to maximise the chances of success and future funding.’
The Brain Tumour Charity is the UK’s largest dedicated funder of research into primary brain tumours globally.
Since 2010, it has ploughed nearly £60m into the most promising research projects at every stage of the research pipeline – from discoveries in laboratories to clinical trials and quality of life research.
Breaktime News recently reported on how 1500 people took part in The Brain Tumour Charity’s flagship Twilight Walk to raise vital funds for research into brain tumours.
