April research newsletter
Welcome to the April edition of Research News!
Please get in touch with any feedback or suggestions for future editions of Research News.
Featured researcher: Professor David Elliott
Professor David Elliott from Newcastle University is this edition's featured researcher!
Read more about his research to understand how targeting splicing could open the door to new treatments for aggressive prostate cancer.
Opportunity for new sites to join radiotherapy clinical trial
We’re delighted to announce that the STAR-TRAP clinical trial, led by Dr Julia Murray and Professor Emma Hall from the Institute of Cancer Research, has opened its first two sites for recruitment, and additional sites are now encouraged to join the trial!
The team are investigating whether stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) can slow the progression of advanced prostate cancer in men undergoing hormone therapy whose cancer is either responding and is now limited to five or fewer sites beyond the prostate, or is progressing in five or fewer sites.
You can find out more, including contact information to explore your site joining the trial, through the STAR-TRAP webpage.
Researcher mentoring scheme
We will soon start pairing mentors with mentees for the third cohort of our hugely successful researcher mentoring scheme!
Early career researchers seeking support with career progression or personal development are paired with experienced researchers outside of their institution.
"It's reassuring to have someone to help me navigate challenges, so I don’t feel isolated with my own issues."
Dr Adriana Buskin, Newcastle University, mentee.
If you would like to be included as a mentor (mid-career as well as senior), a mentee, or both, please visit the mentoring scheme webpage and complete the registration form before the end of April.
Prostate Cancer UK Career Acceleration Fellows!
We’re delighted to introduce our newest Career Acceleration Fellows!
Please join us in congratulating Sarah Gosling (Keele University), Ahmet Hazini (University of Oxford), Emma Lishman Walker (Newcastle University) and Koichi Sasaki (Imperial College London) on their new awards.
Their research ranges from the investigation of which changes in the prostate can predict the development of cancer, through to harnessing immune cells to fight prostate cancer.
If you or a colleague are interested in applying for a Fellowship, applications are open now! Find out more in the funding opportunities section below.
You can read more about the 2024 funded projects through the Career Acceleration Fellowship research web pages.
Funding opportunities – open now and coming soon!
Open now: Career Acceleration Fellowships
Applications for our 2025 Career Acceleration Fellowships are now open, with a deadline of 27 May! These awards offer up to £350,000 of funding for the most promising early career prostate cancer researchers, supporting them pursue their own research goals, collaborate with teams outside their home institution, and build the skills to become future leaders in the field.
Read more about our Career Acceleration Fellowships.
Other funding opportunities
Wellcome are currently accepting applications for their Early-Career Awards. This scheme provides funding for early-career researchers from any discipline who are ready to develop their research identity. The deadline for the current round is 22 May, but the scheme runs several times per year.
Read more about other external funding opportunities.
Coming soon: Transformational Impact Awards
Applications for our Transformational Impact Awards will be opening in early June!
Visit our webpage to find out more about the awards as well as our other upcoming funding opportunities.
Patient and Public Involvement - training for researchers
The NIHR Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) team are running training sessions for researchers who are new to PPI or who want to build their skills.
Sessions are held online and are free to attend for academic, NHS or charity-based researchers.
See their online training web page for more information, and to book your place.
Prostate Cancer UK can also support you to involve patient representatives in your research grant applications. Read more on our web page.
Webinar - rewriting the script on aggressive prostate cancer
Dr Jennifer Munkley, Dr Caroline Dalgliesh and Professor David Elliott from Newcastle University delivered a fantastic webinar on splicing and aggressive prostate cancer for our supporters last month. We were also privileged to be joined by John Flanagan, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy for advanced prostate cancer, and his wife Sharon, who both brought their invaluable insights to the discussion.
The event was incredibly well received, with 98% of supporters reporting that they'd like to attend another of our webinars, and feedback such as:
"These webinars are excellent, and in particular this one was extremely good. Very simple explanations of a complex subject. Highly informative and comforting."
Prostate Cancer UK supporter.
You can read more about the research team's plans to understand the mechanisms behind aggressive prostate cancer, and catch up here with the recording of the webinar.
Making Progress 2025
It was fantastic to welcome so many early career researchers, from 24 different institutions across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to our Making Progress event on 2 April.
We had a brilliant day hearing all the exciting updates, learning from each other in the skills sessions, and catching up with the rising stars of prostate cancer research!
If you attended Making Progress, please ensure you have completed the feedback survey so that we can continue to work with you to make these events the best they can be!
Researcher achievements
We're delighted to celebrate the following achievements from among our research community:
- Professor Nick James at the Institute of Cancer Research, and the whole STAMPEDE team, for their NIHR Impact Prize.
- Professor Johann de Bono at the Institute of Cancer Research for his election to the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research.
- Dr Ben Schumann at Imperial College London for his 2024 Chemistry Biology Interface early career prize: Norman Heatley Award, and his admittance as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
- Dr Tabitha Cunliffe at Cardiff University for her Early/Mid Career Research Discovery Seedcorn Award from the Cardiff Cancer Research HUB.
- Dr Marcos Quintela-Vazquez at Cardiff University for his Early/Mid Career Research Discovery Seedcorn Award from the Cardiff Cancer Research HUB.
These are just the exciting achievements we've heard about - if we've missed anything or you have an achievement of your own to share, please let us know by emailing [email protected].
Previous newsletters
February 2025
December 2024
October 2025
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