Call for nominations as Cancer Research UK announce new prestigious awards

Cancer Research UK today (Tuesday) announced the launch of three new prestigious awards that will recognise world leading cancer researchers and the scientists of tomorrow.

These awards will recognise the contribution and discoveries that thousands of researchers make every day which are helping more people beat the disease.

The three award categories are: The Cancer Research UK Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research Prize; The Cancer Research UK Prize for Translational Cancer Research and the Cancer Research UK Future Leaders Prize.

An international panel of world-renowned cancer experts will consider the nominations. The prizes include an honorarium, funded from a special fellowship trust, worth £25,000 for the Lifetime Achievement, £25,000 for the Translational Cancer Research Prize and £10,000 for the Future Leaders Prize.

The Lifetime Achievement Prize recognises an individual who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to the fight against cancer making exceptional advances in the field, who has had a significant and sustained role in furthering our understanding of cancer, or a major impact on the lives of people with cancer.

The Translational Cancer Research Prize is open to research teams whose discoveries in cancer research are at the cutting edge of new approaches that will accelerate new scientific discovery out of the lab and improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

The Future Leaders Prize is open to those who have completed their PhD in the last six years and are already demonstrating the potential to make future key discoveries to transform our understanding and treatment of the disease.

Dr David Scott, director of science funding at Cancer Research UK, said: “We’re delighted to be launching these prizes which will recognise talented individuals and teams, highlighting the inspirational figures that are behind the advances and progress we are making in the fight against cancer.

“Cancer Research UK is committed to encouraging and providing opportunities to the leading cancer researchers of the future, whose discoveries could benefit patients of tomorrow.”

The prizes are open to all scientists involved in cancer research who have carried out most of their research in the UK.

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “We hope the prize winners will act as ambassadors for cancer research, spreading the word about the importance of their work and encouraging young scientists to consider cancer research as a career path. Cancer Research UK is committed to beating cancer by supporting the efforts of scientists, doctors and nurses whose hard work is making a real difference in increasing the number of people who survive the disease.”

The deadline for applications is Monday 7 June 2010. For more information on the eligibility criteria and nomination process please visit: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/researchprizes

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact the Cancer Research UK press office on 020 7061 8300 or, out-of-hours, the duty press officer on 07050 264 059.