Trinity researchers awarded 2.9 million for oral and oesophageal cancer research

Posted on: 13 October 2016

Researchers in Trinity’s School of Biochemistry and Immunology and School of Dental Science have been awarded €2.9 million Horizon 2020 funding for a project entitled TRAining in Cancer mechanisms and Therapeutics (TRACT), in collaboration with European partners Queen’s University Belfast, University of Siena, University of Valencia and OROBOROS INSTRUMENTS.

This project, researching oral and oesophageal cancer, has received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie grant agreement No. 721906.

Associate Professor in Biochemistry at Trinity’s School of Biochemistry and Immunology, and TRACT project coordinator, Dr Daniela Zisterer said, “There is an urgent need for researchers trained in next-generation technologies for improved detection and treatment of oral and oesophageal cancers. The number of oral cancers diagnosed in the EU has increased by over 75% in the last thirty years, with long-term survival rates of only 50%. This is typically due to the late diagnosis of the disease and resistance to current therapies.”

TRACT will enable eleven PhD Fellows to complete research projects in three critical areas: biomarker discovery, molecular resistance mechanisms and metabolic transformation mechanisms. This will allow for the discovery of novel insights into the molecular and cellular basis of oral and oesophageal cancer and generate new diagnostic tools and therapeutics that will improve patient response and survival. Through a number of SME/industrial partners, the PhD Fellows will be exposed to next-generation technologies in areas such as cancer diagnosis, metabolism, biomarker identification and drug development. As well as attending a range of research training courses in the partner universities and within industry, the Fellows will take courses run by the Innovation Academy on how to commercialise research discovery.