Our research in Glasgow
Glasgow is home to the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, one of our five institutes. Here researchers are exploring how cancer cells grow, survive and spread.
The Beatson is part of our Cancer Research UK West of Scotland Cancer Centre, which brings together scientists, doctors and nurses from across the region to develop innovative new treatments for cancer.
Researchers at the Centre are focusing on bowel cancer and leukaemia as well as many other types of cancer. Their work is also paving the way for new treatments to stop cancer cells from spreading around the body. You can find out more on our Centres website.
Our Children's Cancer Trials Team co-ordinates groundbreaking trials in 21 centres across the UK and Ireland, including the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow. These trials bring cutting-edge science from the lab to the bedside, making innovative new treatments available to children with cancer. Glasgow is also home to one of our clinical trials units based at Gartnavel Hospital.
Below are some of the highlights of our research in Glasgow, or you can find out more in our Glasgow leaflet (pdf download).
On this page
Bowel cancer
Prof Owen Sansom
Wnt Signalling and Colorectal Cancer Group
Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow
Understanding the molecular mistakes in bowel cancer
Professor Owen Sansom is Deputy Director at our Beatson Institute for Cancer Research. He and his team are investigating the molecular changes that happen in bowel cells that ultimately lead to bowel cancer. Finding out more about how it develops will help scientists to find new ways to prevent and treat the disease.
Leukaemia
Prof Tessa Holyoake
Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre
Gartnavel Hospital, University of Glasgow, Glasgow
Targeting leukaemia at its roots
Professor Tessa Holyoake is Director of the Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre at Glasgow’s Gartnavel Hospital. Her pioneering lab work focuses on how cancer stem cells can trigger the return of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a cancer affecting the blood. Her research could lead to new treatments that specifically target and kill stem cells, improving long-term survival and quality of life for people with CML.
Prof Jim Neil
Molecular Oncology Laboratory
University of Glasgow, Glasgow
Investigating the faulty genes in leukaemia
Professor Jim Neil is an expert in the faulty genes at the heart of leukaemia – cancer of white blood cells. He and his team at the University of Glasgow are investigating a family of genes called RUNX, which are involved in the development of healthy blood cells, but can also drive the growth of leukaemia if they are faulty.
No specific cancer type
Prof Eyal Gottlieb
Apoptosis and Tumour Metabolism Group
Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow
Understanding the 'power stations' in cancer cells
Because cancer cells grow faster than healthy cells, they have a high demand for energy and oxygen. Professor Eyal Gottlieb, who leads a research group at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, is investigating the energy production 'machinery' in cancer cells, and developing ways to target it in order to treat cancer.
Prof Gavin Halbert
Cancer Research UK Formulation Unit
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Turning lab discoveries into cancer drugs
Professor Gavin Halbert heads up Cancer Research UK's cutting-edge Strathclyde Formulation Unit in Glasgow. At this facility, the scientists package up promising new candidate drugs into safe forms that patients can take as tablets, capsules or injections.
Prof Nicol Keith
Experimental Therapeutics, Institute of Cancer Sciences
University of Glasgow, Glasgow
Developing new anti-cancer therapies
Nicol Keith is Professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Glasgow. He and his team are investigating how cancer cells become immortal and are using this information to develop new anticancer treatments. In particular, Professor Keith is investigating ways to target telomerase, an "immortality gene" that is switched on in eight out of ten cancers.
Prof Karen Vousden
Tumour Suppression Group
Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow
Understanding p53: the protein at the heart of cancer
Professor Karen Vousden’s world-leading research focuses on a protein called p53 - a key player in the body's defences against cancer. Her team is finding new ways to treat the disease by harnessing the power of this crucial protein in cancer cells. Professor Vousden is Director of the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, where she leads the Tumour Suppression Group.
Pancreatic cancer
Prof Jeff Evans
Translational Cancer Therapeutics
Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow
Stopping pancreatic cancer from spreading
Professor Jeff Evans is based at Cancer Research UK's Beatson Institute in Glasgow, where he is Professor of Translational Cancer Research. He is investigating drugs that could stop pancreatic cancer from spreading, a major problem in this disease.
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