Kerry sheep farmer raises over €20K for Irish Cancer Society research grants

€1.65 million investment in cancer research leads to nine Fellows and Scholars being awarded at the Irish Cancer Society Research Awards Ceremony

A Kerry sheep farmer, Kevin Curran, who drove his 50-year-old vintage tractor, called Betsy, across America’s famous Route 66 to raise money for cancer research, today took part in the annual Irish Cancer Society Research Awards Ceremony in Dublin at which 9 new cancer research grants were awarded. Mr Curran, together with several friends, raised almost €25,000 for Irish Cancer Society Research after his wife Eileen, who had named the tractor, died from cancer.  Mr Curran said the group had chosen the Irish Cancer Society “as each one of us on the team has been touched by cancer either directly or indirectly and we want the funds raised to go to fund cancer research so that future patients have better outcomes.” Mr Curran’s contribution will go towards the Irish Cancer Society’s total €2.5 million investment in cancer research in 2012. The Fellows and Scholars awards are designed to foster home-grown cancer research talent in Ireland and to ensure new research projects are commenced in a range of cancers including breast, oesophageal, colorectal, gastrointestinal and prostate cancers. The research projects span a wide range of research areas and will investigate a number of potentially important topics, such as the response of cancer cells to chemotherapeutics and how they interact with our immune system. The Irish Cancer Society’s vision for cancer research is based on achieving world-class discoveries across all cancer types to improve outcomes for the thousands of patients that are diagnosed each year in Ireland.  This year, the Society took a major step forward in delivering its vision for cancer research in Ireland, by allocating €7.5 million in funding to establish the first Collaborative Cancer Research Centre to stimulate collaboration and enable sharing of resources, by linking together already established cancer research disciplines and institutions in Ireland working towards a common goal.  Dr Aideen Ryan from NUI Galway is one of the Fellows being funded and on receiving her Research Fellowship, Dr Ryan said, “Colon cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths in Ireland and represents a significant health problem. Through our research, we aim to discover the factors that control the immune system’s interaction with colon cancer and how blocking these factors would enable us to develop new drugs that could, in turn, be used to strengthen our immune response to cancer. This approach to cancer, we hope, could potentially result in better treatments and consequently a better prognosis and quality of life for patients with colon cancer.”  Cancer is a major cause of death and illness in this country and each year there are over 25,000 new cases diagnosed as well as over 7,500 deaths which accounts for almost 25% of the annual national death toll.  Cancer rates are expected to increase and it is estimated that by 2020, 40,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Ireland each year. Speaking at the Ceremony, Prof. John Fitzpatrick, Head of Research, Irish Cancer Society said, “We are very proud to announce our next round of Fellows and Scholars who will join the battle against cancer by applying their scientific skills in a way that will be make a difference to cancer patients.” “We are committed to advancing high-quality cancer research in Ireland and leading the way through our Collaborative Cancer Research Centre, and through funding excellent cancer researchers in various colleges and hospitals throughout Ireland. We thank Mr Curran for his valuable contribution to our research programme, and the many other fundraisers and donors throughout the country, who so generously support the next generation of cancer researchers in this country.” John McCormack, CEO, Irish Cancer Society continued, “This year has been a very exciting year for the Irish Cancer Society’s research programme, with the announcement of its first Collaborative Cancer Research Centre and a €1.65 million investment to fund 9 new ambitious Fellows and Scholars. As the largest voluntary funder of cancer research, the Irish Cancer Society depends on on-going fundraising efforts, such as Mr. Curran’s exceptional Route 66 endeavour, to support the research programme and we encourage others to get involved.”  Over the past 30 years, cancer research funded by the Irish Cancer Society has led to major advances in cancer research and more than 650 important research findings have been discovered. To find out more about the Irish Cancer Society research programme visit our research pages here.