By Darragh McDonagh

Galway is poised to become part of a world-leading cancer research hub in coming years, according to the internationally acclaimed expert who assumed his new role at the city’s Clinical Research Facility this week.

Galway native Professor Frank Giles has taken up the lead role in the €7.5m facility, where the NUI Galway graduate will continue his cutting-edge research in the area of cancer care.

The haematologist left his post at the prestigious University of Texas Health Science Centre to return to Galway, where he will assume the lead role at the research facility and will also work as Professor of Cancer Therapeutics at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

He has already overseen the pioneering development of Tasigna, which is a drug that is seen as a breakthrough towards finding a cure for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).

Prof Giles said that the new clinical research units in Galway and TCD can form a cutting-edge research hub in the quest to find a cure for cancer.
 

A landmark phase one trial of a first-generation anti-cancer drug is due to begin in Galway next month at the cancer research unit under Prof Michael O’Dwyer. It will be the first trial of its kind in Ireland and will focus initially on leukaemia, but is likely to be applicable to a large number of other cancers.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune