The Development Fund
The Liverpool Cancer Research UK Centre Development Fund will support pilot projects involving collaborations between different research groups that make up the Centre. The aim of the Development Fund scheme is to provide start-up funding for ground breaking new research projects at an early stage. After this the expectation is that successful projects will lead to full basic/clinical/translational research grant applications to funding bodies.
The success of this scheme will be judged on how effective it is in promoting the flow of novel ideas into the basic, clinical, and translational research activities carried out within the Centre. Publications, external funding, industrial partnerships and new biotech start-ups will be key indicators. The scheme is monitored and evaluated by the Centre's Research Committee (est. 26/03/2010).
 |
The Research Committee is currently made up of the following members (to be reviewed in 2012): Dr Mark Boyd |
The projects are judged and ranked on the following four criteria:- Relevance to the CRUK Centre's objectives, scientific quality, feasibility of project, and value for money.
The Centre brings together The University of Liverpool's basic and clinical scientists conducting dynamic interdisciplinary cancer research.
The Centre's seminars are held every Friday at 1pm in the Cancer Research UK Centre Lecture Theatre. All welcome to attend. The calendar of events is regularly updated and is available for download.
The University of Liverpool offers one of the best Ph.D. programmes in the U.K., and has been ranked 4th in a study of completion rates for Ph.D. students at universities by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
Liverpool CRUK Centre Clinical Fellowship entry has closed for 2012
Development Fund.
Core Facilities:
- MISSION whole genome lentiviral shRNA library.
-
Technology
- Medical Statistics & Bioinformatics
 |
Managers from local Cancer Research UK shops have been delighted to receive more than 513 bags worth |
| up to £15,390. Please keep your donations coming in so we can reach our new target of 350 bags. Collection points are in the Centre's foyer, Duncan Building, and DSO office. | |
TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT FUND:
These terms of reference are to aid submission of proposals.
• The most important quality that we are looking for is outstanding science with relevance to the remit of the Liverpool Cancer Research UK Centre.
• Applications that promote or strengthen collaborations between Cancer Research UK Centre groups will be encouraged.
• Ideally it should be a new pilot project rather than supporting existing research.
• In order to encourage 'big ideas' projects with good prospects of external funding, one potential renewal based on review will be allowed.
• The research should aim to be groundbreaking leading to new avenues of research and promoting high quality publications and grant applications. We are looking for initiatives that will lead to rapid advances in new aspects of cancer biology or lead to new areas of translational research.
• Each submission should be no more than two pages [font size no less than 10] structured with an Abstract, Aims, Details of the project, References and Justification for the use of funds requested. If your application is successful, these details will be published on the Centre’s website.
• A report is required within 3 months of the completion of the project.
DEVELOPMENT FUND AWARDS 2010-11
The successful applications in no particular order are as follows:
1. Understanding how airway infection promotes CLL development and progression. Applicants: Joseph Slupsky, Nagesh Kalakonda, Andrew Pettitt, Nikolina Vlatkovic (Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine), Paul McNamara, Angela Fonceca (Women's and Children's Health) and Brian Flanagan (Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology). JS and BF are the principal investigators. £11,877
2. The role of Phospholipase D in tumour angiogenesis Applicants: Dr. Michael Cross (Dept. of Pharmacology) and Prof. Alirio Melendez (Dept. of Pharmacology) £6,500
3. Genome wide lentiviral based shRNA library for functional genomic studies - Nagesh Kalakonda, Joseph Slupsky, Richard Clark, Andrew Pettitt Expressions of interest and potential users: Patricia Murray, Andrea Varro, Francis Barr, Eithne Costello-Goldring, Bill Greenhalf, Chris Goldring, Michael Cross, Steve Royle, Mark Boyd, Sarah Coupland £31,000
4. Sequencing the transcriptomes of three Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia cell lines with altered resistance to Imatinib. Steven W Edwards (Institute of Integrative Biology) and Richard E Clark (Institute of Translational Medicine) £10,000
5. The Role of a Novel Inhibitory Isoform of VEGF in Ocular Melanoma Investigators: S. E. Coupland, B. E. Damato, A. Dodson, M. Emmett, H. Kalirai, S. L. Lake and Rowan Pritchard-Jones £15,320
DEVELOPMENT FUND AWARDS 2009-10
A total fund of £70,000 was available for the year 2009-2010. The Terms of Reference were despatched to all members, and prospective members on April 20th 2010. From the 14 applications that were received the following projects were successful:
1. Screening the NIH small molecule repository for galectin-3 inhibitors: A pilot study for identification of novel therapeutic leads for cancer treatment – Dr. Lu-Gang Yu (School of Clinical Sciences) £8,200
2. Identification of novel stromal targets for early detection and targeted therapy in pancreatic and oesophageal cancer – Dr. Eithne Costello/Professor Andrea Varro (School of Cancer Studies / School of Biomedical Sciences) £15,000
3. Assessment of the abundance of potential biomarkers of colorectal neoplasia in human patients – Professor Mark Pritchard (School of Clinical Sciences) £10,000
4. Interrogating the role of DUBs in invasive cell migration in vivo – Dr. Daimark Bennett (School of Biological Sciences) £3,125.52
5. Movement and compartmentalisation of the p53 regulatory protein MDM2 – Dr. Carlos Rubbi (School of Cancer Studies) £3,500
6. Real time in vivo imaging of p53 activity: A novel pre-clinical application – Dr. Nikolina Vlatkovic (School of Cancer Studies) £6,831.50
7. Tissue Procurement as a Translational Resource in Head and Neck Cancer – Dr Richard Shaw (School of Cancer Studies) £23,000.