Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre
Professor Hani Gabra
BSc MB ChB MSc PhD FRCPE FRCP - Director
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Professor Stan Kaye
MB BS MD FRCP FRCR FRSE FMedSci - Principal Investigator
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Professor Martin Gore
MB BS PhD FRCP - Principal Investigator
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The Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre was set up in 2002 and is a collaboration between Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, and The Royal Marsden, Imperial Cancer Research. The Director is Professor Hanni Gabra and the Chief Investigators are Professor Bob Brown, Professor Stan Kaye, Professor Marin Gore and Professor Henning Walzak
The mission for the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre is:
“To be a world leading Centre dedicated to defeating ovarian cancer. To focus our research on developing understanding of the disease in order to prevent, diagnose earlier and more accurately, treat more completely and improve length and quality of life of those with the disease.”
The goals of the Research Centre are to:
- Build an international hub for comprising over 80 scientists and clinicians, providing a translational critical mass, that fits with Ovarian Cancer Action aims
- We have identified and moved to the physical environment, and we continue to show strong growth in personnel
- Assign a team of leading researchers to address the problem of resistance to chemotherapy, the major cause of low survival in women with ovarian cancer
- A large team has its work cantered around platinum resistance (Agarwal, Blagden, Brown, Gabra, Stronach)
- Identify and fast-track new treatments from the bench to the bedside
- We have identified and fast tracked several treatments
Overall progress
In the initial plan of work approved, we undertook research on the following programmes/projects:
- OPCML tumour suppressor and WWOX tumour suppressor in ovarian cancer
- Metabonomics of ovarian cancer
- Immunotherapy with WT1 peptide vaccination
- Identification of the ovarian cancer stem cell
- Ovarian cancer platinum resistance
- Clinical trials programme
A full review of the work will be published in late March 2012 when full updates will be published on this site.
Research Support
The Freemasons' Grand Charity
The Freemasons' Grand Charity is supporting Ovarian Cancer Action's vital research and awareness work by granting the charity £1million. The grant is being paid over five years and will fund vital research at the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre - as well as helping us to raise awareness of the disease amongst women and healthcare professionals.
Ovarian Cancer Action was chosen to benefit from this grant thanks to wives of Freemasons who were keen for The Freemasons' Grand Charity to support Ovarian Cancer Action's research and awareness work.
This grant will help us fulfil our vision of saving women's lives through research into the causes, treatment and prevention of ovarian cancer as well as alerting women to the symptoms of the disease so they can seek prompt treatment. Ovarian Cancer Action is incredibly grateful to The Freemasons' Grand Charity for their investment in our vital work.
The Maurice Wohl Charity
The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation has awarded Ovarian Cancer Action a £1 million grant to fund new work at the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre over the next five years.
The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation was established by businessman and philanthropist Maurice Wohl in 1965 and his wife, Vivienne, who was also a generous supporter of many charities and good causes and who died of ovarian cancer. In recognition of the Foundation's generous gift made in Vivienne's memory, the new Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre laboratories in the Commonwealth Building at Imperial College has been named the Vivienne Wohl Unit.