Breakthrough Breast Cancer Scientist Receives Highest UK Scientific Accolade

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 19 May 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Professor Alan Ashworth, Director of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research in London, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Election to the fellowship is considered to be one of the highest accolades a scientist can receive, short of a Nobel prize. Previous Fellows include famous scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.

Professor Ashworth was appointed Director of the Breakthrough Research Centre, the first dedicated breast cancer research centre in Europe, in 1999 by the UK's leading breast cancer charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer. He has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his major contributions to our understanding of mammalian genetics¹. He has uncovered how inheriting genetic faults can contribute to cancer and has gone on to use this information to develop new ways of treating cancer. Recently he has provided vital insights into how cancers can become resistant to drugs. His achievements include:

- Playing a key role in the identification of one of the two major breast cancer genes (BRCA2) and studying how this gene causes cancer.

- Leading pioneering research that has led to the development of a potential new treatment, using a drug called a PARP inhibitor, for women with a type of hereditary breast cancer (currently in Phase II clinical trials). It is believed this treatment might also be applicable to other forms of cancer and this is a key area of research in Professor Ashworth's laboratory

- Groundbreaking discoveries into how some cancers become resistant to treatment, including the discovery of a completely new genetic mechanism that enables cancer cells to adapt and survive.

- Currently leading (with Professor Anthony Swerdlow) the world's most comprehensive study to investigate the causes of breast cancer - the Breakthrough Generations Study, a 40 year study involving 100,000 women.

Professor Ashworth said;
"I am thrilled to be elected by my peers as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This honour reflects the hard work of many people in my lab. I also want to thank Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Cancer Research UK for funding my work over the past 25 years."

Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer said: "We, and all of our supporters, are delighted and extremely proud that Professor Ashworth, who is such an eminent scientist, has become a Fellow of the Royal Society. It highlights the quality of work taking place at the Breakthrough Research Centre under his Directorship. Alan is leading the way in understanding how to develop and tailor treatments for women with breast cancer to give them the best possible outcome."

The Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre, housed in the Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Building at The Institute of Cancer Research, is the UK's first dedicated breast cancer research centre and has a reputation for world-class research. At the Centre, over 120 scientists and clinicians work together on a programme of cutting edge biological research that aims to discover the causes of the disease, find methods of prevention, and develop new treatments and more effective ways of diagnosing breast cancer.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer needs to raise at least £25 million each year for the next three years to support its vital research, campaigning and education work.

http://www.breakthrough.org.uk