Trinity PhD fellows will join forces with European colleagues for major oral cancer study

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have been awarded €2.9 million to fund a study into how technology can help to detect and treat oral and oesophageal cancer.

The project, entitled TRAining in Cancer mechanisms and Therapeutics (TRACT), is a collaboration between the School of Dental Science and the School of Biochemistry in Dublin and European partners Queen’s University Belfast, University of Siena, University of Valencia and Oroboros Instruments. The funding comes from the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skodowska-Curie grant agreement (number 721906).

Associate Professor in Biochemistry at Trinity’s School of Biochemistry and Immunology, and TRACT project co-ordinator, Dr Daniela Zisterer, said: “There is an urgent need for researchers trained in next-generation technologies for improved detection and treatment of oral and oesophageal cancers. The number of oral cancers diagnosed in the EU has increased by more than 75 per cent in the last 30 years, with long-term survival rates of only 50 per cent. This is typically due to the late diagnosis of the disease and resistance to current therapies.”

TRACT will fund 11 PhD fellows to complete research projects in three areas: biomarker discovery, molecular resistance mechanisms and metabolic transformation mechanisms. This will allow for the discovery of novel insights into the molecular and cellular basis of oral and oesophageal cancer and generate new diagnostic tools and therapeutics that will improve patient response and survival.

Tags: cancer, Oral cancer, Queen's University Belfast, TRACT, Training in Cancer mechanisms and Theraputics, Trinity College Doublin