ABERDEEN charity Friends of ANCHOR has bolstered a grant from Robert Gordon University to provide top-of-the-range equipment that will drive forward pivotal studies into cancer treatment.
Friends of ANCHOR topped up the University’s £39k budget for a new flow cytometer, investing a further £23,737 to allow a higher-spec version to be purchased.
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At an overall cost of more than £62,000, the vital tool is now in place in the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences at the city’s Garthdee campus, where it will take translational research into cancer and haematology diseases to the next level.
Lead researchers, Dr Marie Goua and Dr Giovanna Bermano, who are both based within the University, approached Friends of ANCHOR for the additional funding to purchase the enhanced model, which is renowned for aiding cancer studies.
Dr Goua, RGU academic strategic lead for Biological Science, said: “This instrument is enabling scientists within the University to further cancer research by gaining a better understanding of how novel drugs and nutrients can affect cancer treatment and prevention.
“It will greatly benefit the training of the next generation of applied biomedical scientists on cancer diagnostics, blood analysis and haematology, which is fantastic news for future research and brings real longevity to the investment.”
Sarah-Jane Hogg, charity director, added: “We’re so pleased to have facilitated this exciting upgrade for such a specialised piece of kit, which is a tried and tested tool in the field of oncology and haematology research and will really help to strengthen the position of our PhD researchers locally.
“Research is one of our four core funding areas and this latest investment will help to kick things up a gear and take studies to the next level, benefitting both current and future research right here in the North-east.”
