Wednesday, 06 March 2024
A group of leading scientists from the University of Nottingham are part of a global, interdisciplinary team of experts who will be taking on cancer inequities, thanks to a Cancer Grand Challenges award.
Nigel Mongan, Professor of Oncology in the Biodiscovery Institute, will lead a team of cancer experts at the University of Nottingham in the SAMBAI team, which is led by Melissa Davis from Morehouse School of Medicine in Georgia, USA. They will receive up to $25million in funding over five years to take on the challenge of cancer inequities.
The SAMBAI team is one of five world-class, global teams of researchers to be selected to receive funding from Cancer Grand Challenges - a global funding initiative, co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the US, that supports a community of diverse, global teams to come together, think differently and take on some of cancer’s toughest challenges.
The Nottingham team
This $125 million investment marks the largest funding round to-date – with $50 million funded by the National Cancer Institute and $75 million funded by Cancer Research UK and its network of partners.
The SAMBAI team will tackle cancer inequities. Inequities in preventing, screening and treating cancer can result in differences in how many people develop cancer and how many survive it. They happen because some people have better access to healthcare than others. This unequal access can result in delays in diagnosing cancer. Additionally, data suggest that genetics and biology also contribute to inequities, which have not been equally studied across populations.
The SAMBAI team is dedicated to studying populations of African descent in Africa, the UK and the US. They will gather data on individuals’ social circumstances, environments, genetics and the immune cells within their tumours. All this data will be stored in the SAMBAI Biobank and Data Repository for Cancer Equity Research.
The team will focus on cancers which are typically more aggressive in black people and can affect them at an earlier age, including breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers.
Through detailed profiles of each participant in their research, SAMBAI aims to determine how genetics, the environment and social factors combine and interact to influence cancer outcomes and disparities within these populations. With this knowledge, the team aspires to develop strategies for cancer prevention and treatment tailored to these specific communities.
Professor Nigel Mongan
Professor Mongan said: “The cancer research teams at the University of Nottingham are excited to be part of the SAMBAI Cancer Grand Challenges team, led by Professor Melissa Davis at Morehouse School of Medicine. Our consortium, funded by the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK, will use state of the art science to understand why breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers are more common and outcomes poorer in patients of African ancestry. By working closely with our communities in Nottingham, and our partners in Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and the United States, our patient-led research will deepen understanding of the causes of these cancer inequities and seeks to identify ways to reverse these to benefit cancer patients. We are also grateful to Prostate Cancer UK for funding research that has been crucial in getting to this point and for helping us to deliver this new exciting research through engagement with their Black Men's Health Advisory Committee.”
Dr. David Scott, Director of Cancer Grand Challenges, said: “Together with our network of visionary partners and research leaders, Cancer Grand Challenges unites the world's brightest minds across boundaries and disciplines and aims to overcome cancer’s toughest problems. With this investment, our largest to date, we continue to grow our global research community, and fund new teams that have the potential to surface discoveries that could positively impact cancer outcomes.”
Story credits
More information is available from Professor Nigel Mongan in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham at nigel.mongan@nottingham.ac.uk
About Cancer Grand Challenges
Co-founded in 2020 by two of the largest funders of cancer research in the world: Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute, Cancer Grand Challenges supports a global community of diverse, world-class research teams to come together, think differently and take on some of cancer’s toughest challenges. These are the obstacles that continue to impede progress and no one scientist, institution or country will be able to solve them alone. With awards of up to $25M, Cancer Grand Challenges teams are empowered to rise above the traditional boundaries of geography and discipline to make the progress against cancer we urgently need.
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About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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