New laboratory for leading cancer team
Posted on 28 November 2000
Funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, the laboratory will house the team which earlier this year discovered the structure of a protein which controls the papillomavirus - the principal cause of cervical cancer.
The discovery, announced in February 2000, was hailed as a major breakthrough and could lead to the development of drugs which will control the cancer-promoting part of the protein.
The new laboratory will be part of a major research facility for the University's Biology Department and will be individually designed to meet the scientific needs of the specific medical research so successfully being undertaken by this team. The facilities being constructed will extend to about 400 square metres and accommodate some 20 research and support staff.
The team, led by Professor Norman Maitland, specialises in prostate and cervical cancers - work which has been supported by Yorkshire Cancer Research for many years.
Elaine King, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Cancer Research commented: "We are delighted to see work begin on this important new laboratory, which hopefully bring us closer to achieving our ultimate goal - of discovering a cure for cancer. My sincere thanks go to the thousands of volunteers who raise money for Yorkshire Cancer Research who have made this possible."
Professor Ron Cooke, Vice-Chancellor of the University of York said: "Yorkshire Cancer Research has generously sponsored cancer research at York for several years. This latest initiative is wonderful news for Professor Maitland and his team, and it is a fine contribution to our new biosciences building. When the whole new facility is completed, Biology at York will have facilities of truly international excellence."
Notes to editors:
- The turf cutting for the Yorkshire Cancer Research laboratory will be at 1.30 pm on Tuesday 28 November. Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend. Please contact Hilary Layton on 01904 432029.
- The Biology Department at York is a world leader. It has a research rating of 5 and a teaching quality score of 24/24. The department is large and its work wide-ranging, including biomedicine, plant science and ecology. The redevelopment of its facilities will offer exciting new opportunities to all the research groups.
- The redevelopment of Biology's entire research laboratories is a £23 million project funded by the Joint Infrastructure Fund (a £750 million fund set up by the Government and the Wellcome Trust to support science infrastructure in Britain). The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council administers this award. In addition, Yorkshire Cancer Research is contributing £710,000 for Professor Maitland's new laboratories.
- Yorkshire Cancer Research raises money and funds research in Yorkshire only. The objective of the Charity is to promote research in Yorkshire into the cause and cure of cancer, which accounts for one in four deaths in this country today.
- Yorkshire Cancer Research, which prides itself on its 'Yorkshireness', is the most successful regional cancer research charity in the UK and raises around £4 million each year to fund research by world-leading scientists and clinicians at each of the five 'original' universities of Yorkshire: Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York. Work is also funded at the MRI Centre at Hull Royal Infirmary, The Royal Hallamshire and Weston Park Hospitals in Sheffield and the General Infirmary, St James's and Cookridge Hospitals in Leeds.
- The main contractor for the biosciences redevelopment at the University of York is HBG Construction Ltd. Other services are supplied by architects Anshen Dyer, structural engineers Buro Happold, and quantity surveyors Gleeds. Turner & Townsend Project Management are providing overall project management.