A team of eight chemists at Newcastle Uni are keeping their labcoats on after-hours as they plan to take on the Great North Run to fundraise for the top charity which funds their own cutting-edge research.
The team are medicinal chemists at the Newcastle Uni Centre for Cancer and work as part of the Newcastle Cancer Research UK Drug Discovery Group. Their work focuses on coming up with treatments for kinds of cancer which are resistant to existing drugs.
At the moment, the team are working on four new medicines which are currently part of clinical trials testing their effectiveness at treating cancer patients. Prof Mike Waring is the team's head of chemistry and one of those taking on the 13-mile route through Tyneside next month.
He said: "We’re fundraising, first and foremost, because our group is sponsored by Cancer Research UK and we’re really dependent on that money to be able to develop cancer drugs. We want to bring new therapies to people, research costs money and we are dependent on the fundraising and donations of the public for that
"We feel it’s vital that we do our bit for fundraising as well as research. For me personally and for many of the members of the group, as well as being researchers, our lives have been affected by cancer. Most significantly for me, I lost my dad to bladder cancer in 2019. Our research and our fundraising are motivated by the desire to beat cancer in all its forms. This is a huge challenge but we are determined to play our part in it.”
Senior research associate Dr Suzannah Harnor, works on projects looking for treatments for breast cancer. Like Prof Waring, she has seen the impact of cancer in her family. "It’s extremely close to home for my family,” she said. “I’ve worked in labs and benefited from these funds for me to do my research. It’s giving that little bit back and coming full circle to raise funds for our own research."
PhD student Will Thompson, who is working on developing molecules which attack the proteins that cause some cancer, added: "Everyone’s life has been touched by cancer in some way. I’m one of the lucky ones, I still have my grandad around after his lymphoma was successfully treated a few years back.
"It’s the funding of research organisations like this that enables more people to have the same experience as I had, increasing the possibility of remission and allowing people to keep their loved ones around for longer."
Dr Hannah Stewart added that a key motivation was "every day seeing the important research going on that will one day change lives". The team members taking part in the Great North Run are: Professor Mike Waring, Dr Hannah Stewart, Dr Jennyfer Ricci, Jessica Graham, Matt Anderson, Will Thompson, Jake Odger and Catherine Salvini.
The Newcastle Uni team are looking to raise £3,000. Their fundraising page is available at fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/team/newcastle-drug-discovery-great-north-run-2022.
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