Nexxus Scotland

Honorary Strathclyde degree for cancer Institute head

11 July 2008

The director of one of Scotland's leading cancer research centres has received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Strathclyde.

The award has been made to Professor Karen Vousden, of the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, in recognition of a three-decade career dedicated to seeking treatment for a disease which is developed by one in three people at some stage in their lives.

She has earned particular renown for her work on the p53 protein, which has been called 'the guardian of the human genome' and which can be harnessed to destroy cancerous cells.

Professor Brian Furman, Dean of the Faculty of Science at Strathclyde, said: "Very few of us will go through life without coming into contact with cancer in some way. Only by understanding the mechanisms which regulate the proliferation, survival and spread of cancer cells through the body, and by identifying their critical components, will new and effective therapies be developed for targeting these cells specifically.

"These therapies could leave normal cells untouched and could spare patients from the often unpleasant, sometimes life-threatening side effects which accompany much chemotherapy today. Karen's personal research work, as well as that of the scientists she leads at the Beatson, is providing this fundamental knowledge."

Born in Kent, Professor Vousden gained a first-class Honours degree in Genetics and Microbiology from the University of London in 1978 and was awarded a PhD there in 1982. She then took up a post at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, where she explored the ways certain genes are activated by cancer-inducing chemicals.

In 1985, Professor Vousden won a prestigious Fogarty Fellowship which took her to the  US National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. There, she developed an interest in viruses which are implicated in causing cancer of the cervix, the second most common form of the disease in women. She went on to pursue this research at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at St Mary's Hospital in London, where she was head of a research group for eight years.

During this time, she became particularly interested in the p53 protein and her research has since made a major contribution to understanding of its properties. Her work has shown how it can set off a process known as apoptosis, or 'programmed cell death,' which is an essential factor in destroying abnormal cells. Her research could lead to the development of drugs which trigger this process.

Professor Vousden's investigations of p53 earned her international renown and led to her returning to the US National Cancer Institute in 1995. During her second spell, she was head of a range of laboratories and research programmes.

In 2002, she came to Glasgow to take up her current post at the Beatson. She has overseen a £15 million expansion of the Institute and leads its tumour suppression research group.

Professor Vousden's pioneering work has brought her many awards, including the Tenovus Gold Medal for Contributions to the Field of Gene Expression in 1998 and the National Institutes of Health Merit Award for major contributions to research in 2001. In the past five years, she has also been elected for Fellowships of the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Academy of Medical Sciences. In addition, she has been selected to deliver this year's Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins Memorial Lecture - one of the Biochemical Society's most prestigious awards.

Professor Vousden was presented for her degree by Professor Furman, who is based at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, a pioneering centre for world-class drug research and development.   

For further information contact the Press Office, University of Strathclyde T : 0141 548 4123, E : pressoffice@strath.ac.uk. 

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