She could do anything
Encouraged by the Comment of my granddaughter Amanda, from
time to time I am going to “profile” one or another of the cancer researchers
we at the Marsha Rivkin Center help support.
We offer support in three categories, but it is clear that each emphases
innovation. We try to identify people
who may have spied an incipient crack in the armor (of ovarian cancer), and then help them pry it open. Once they have are inside, we leave it to the
far deeper pockets of the NIH to help them fight the war. To me – I had no part in designing any of our
programs – this seems to be a remarkably promising approach. I wish I were 30 again and a smart
biochemist; I’d rather be one of these young people than simply an old guy writing about them. But, you do what you can with what you’ve
got.
Rather than
jumping right in, I will describe the kinds of grants we award. In ascending order of dollars available, and
– probably – difficulty in getting funded - we award Scientific Scholar Awards, Pilot
Study Grants, and Challenge Grants.
Scientific Scholar Awards: These go to young, bright, early-career
scientists. The purpose is to enable
them to try out new ideas (which the young have in profusion, I am told – I am
too old to remember). Needless to say,
these ideas have relevance to ovarian cancer.
The grant amounts to $60,000 for one year, which isn’t much these days
but may make the difference between trying out an idea and shrugging it
off. This year (2012, actually) we gave
out three of these, to young women in England, Canada, and the United States.
Pilot Studies: These are worth $75,000 for one
year. In 2012 we awarded ten of
them. I gather that the successful
applicants tend to be better established in their field, but need help and
encouragement in developing some novel approach to ovarian cancer. One of these awards went to a scientist in
Helsinki.
Challenge Grants: I don’t precisely understand the nature
of this award, so I will simply quote what is said in the MRC Website: “Challenge grants in scientific research revolve around posing a
grand scientific question to the research community and asking researchers to
submit their best ideas for meeting the challenge with creative solutions. With
help from our Scientific Advisory Board, the Rivkin Center will identify areas
in ovarian cancer research in which the greatest strides can be made today and
offer a 2-year, $150,000 Challenge Grant to the research group that proposes
the best solution.”
Thr 2011-2013 MRC Challenge Grant was awarded to Dr. David
Bowtell, who works in Melbourne, Australia.
Dr. Bowtell is testing the hypothesis that ovarian tumors, especially of
the most lethal type – serous – leak pieces of DNA into the blood-stream in quantities sufficient to serve as an early
marker of the disease. Specifically, he
is looking at a mutated version of the gene TP53, which apparently is
associated with numerous kinds of cancer.
Incidentally, it appears that serous “ovarian” cancer originates in the
fallopian tubes.
Regarding Dr. Bowtell’s very important work:
as an Aussie friend of mine was fond of saying, “Goodonyah”!
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