Project Grants Awarded in 2010

Identification of cellular targets to enhance virotherapy
Dr Joanne Morrison (University of Oxford), Professor Leonard Seymour and Dr. Kerry Fisher
£150, 797 over 30 months

Eicosanoid networks in endometrial carcinogenesis
Dr Nicholas Michele Orsi (St James’s University Hospital, Leeds), Dr. Michele Cummings, Dr. Nafisa Wilkinson, Dr. Philip Burns Dr. Stuart Barber and Professor Anna Nicolaou, £250,201 over 30 months

The role of early HPA axis dysfunction and neurosteroids in post-partum depression.
Dr Delia Belleli (Centre for Neuroscience, University of Dundee) and Professor Jeremy Lambert
£123,102 over 24 months
 
Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial of Pelvic Floor Muscle Training to Prevent Pelvic Organ Prolapse in Women (PREVPROL)
Professor Suzanne Hagen (Glasgow Caledonian University), Dr. Doreen McClurg  Professor Cathryn Glazener, Dr. Christine Bain, Professor Christine MacArthur, Dr. Phil Toozs-Hobson, Professor Don Wilson, Associate Professor Peter Herbison and Dr Jean Hay-Smith
£148,800 over 36 months

Latest Research News

Young researchers winning prizes and acclaim

Wellbeing of Women funded researcher Miss Esther Moss wins the prestigious Edgar Gentili Prize2 2010. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have awarded Miss Moss the award in ‘recognition of original work done on the cause, nature, recognition and treatment of any form of cancer of the female genital tract’.

The award was granted for Miss Moss’s paper, published in Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer on “FAU4 regulates carboplatin resistance in ovarian cancer”

Ovarian cancer causes approximately 4,000 deaths every year. Despite advances in surgical techniques and chemotherapy treatments, long-term survival remains low. . Previous research has shown that there are differences in gene expression, between cancer cells killed by the chemotherapy, and those that are able to survive.

The research project undertaken by Miss Moss (with M. Mourtada-Maarabouni, M Pickard, CWE Redman and GT Williams) at Keele University investigated a gene not previously known to play a role in the chemotherapy resistance and ovarian cancer. The study showed that the gene FAU plays a role in the regulation of carboplatin-resistance in ovarian cancer. Reducing the activity of FAU in carboplatin-sensitive ovarian cancer cells was associated with increased resistance to carboplatin-induced cell death. However, increasing the activity of FAU in carboplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells resulted in a reduction of resistance and greater cell death with carboplatin treatment. The study reinforces the view that resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy is a dynamic process amenable to manipulation rather than an absolute and opens many avenues for future work.

A number of local charitable trusts and foundations contributed to the funding of Ms Moss’ project.

Meena Rafiq, a midwifery student at St George’s, University of London has been selected to present her bursary project (funded by WoW) at the SCTS Annual Scientific Meeting in Liverpool 7-8th March. The project titled “Use of fetal surgery to repair aortic stenosis and the practicalities of introducing this procedure in the UK.” was undertaken at the Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, U.S.A.

Collaboration with SANDS

As part of their annual research grant round Wellbeing of Women is delighted to announce exciting new research to understand and prevent stillbirth. This work is supported by a grant awarded by SANDS in collaboration with Wellbeing of Women from funding provided by SANDS.

The first project is titled ‘Genetic testing to identify fatal heart rhythm problems in stillborn babies’ and will be based at UCL, Barts, and Great Ormond Street, under Dr Sudin Thayyil. The main aim of this study is to discover the cause of unexplained stillbirths.

The other is titled, ‘Survey of Obstetric Cholestasis in Pregnancy’ which will be undertaken by Professor Catherine Williamson, Imperial College London, and Dr Marian Knight, University of Oxford..The researchers propose to investigate how many pregnancies are affected by severe obstetric cholestasis in the UK and to establish the risk of complications for both mother and baby. They will obtain information on how common the condition is before 20 weeks of pregnancy, and will look at the differences in the way women are treated in the UK.

Wellbeing of Women