Giving to Glasgow The fundraising magazine for alumni and friends of the University of Glasgow
Issue 21 January 2013
New era for Beatson as Pebble Appeal hits £10 million
Kirsty Craig, Amanda McKeown, Morna Black, Professor Sir Michael Bond, Lindsey Donald and Laura Morton of the Beatson Pebble Appeal
Cancer research in the West of Scotland has been given a major boost with the announcement that the Beatson Pebble Appeal has reached its £10m funding goal. The Appeal, launched in 2008, is raising money to support the development of new cancer treatments. The money raised is being used to fund the construction of the Beatson Translational Cancer Research Centre (Beatson TCRC) at Garscube, Glasgow. The centre, which is due to open in spring 2013, will provide a suite of state-of-the-art facilities for researchers working to develop new and more targeted treatments for a wide range of common types of the disease including breast, prostate, pancreatic and ovarian cancers. It is hoped that more effective treatments can be created through the development of drugs specifically
tailored to individual patients’ requirements and through accelerating implementation in the clinics. Professor Andrew Biankin has now been appointed Chair of Surgery and Director of the Translational Cancer Research Centre in the Institute of Cancer Sciences. He will join the University in early 2013. Prior to this he was Head of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Group at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and a Conjoint Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of NSW in Sydney, Australia. Professor Biankin said: ‘I am looking forward to joining the team at Glasgow. My vision is for clinical and translational cancer research to move towards personalised medicine where we provide the right treatment to the right patient at the right time with the right outcome.
‘The Beatson TCRC is the final piece of the overarching strategy of cancer research and care in Glasgow. It is designed and purpose-built to accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into improved outcomes for people affected by cancer. This is a very exciting time to be joining the cancer research team at Glasgow.’ The success of the campaign to date has encouraged Appeal staff to continue fundraising to help pay for new equipment for the centre along with infrastructure and staffing costs so that the centre can achieve its ambitious goals. • To support the Beatson Pebble Appeal please complete the form on page 7 or visit www.beatsonpebbleappeal.org.