Humanimal Trust, the charity founded in 2014 by orthopaedic veterinary surgeon, Professor Noel Fitzpatrick, has announced funding for research that has the potential to benefit both humans and animals affected by cancer.
The new £250,000 One Medicine Cancer Discovery Fund is designed to encourage multi-disciplinary and collaborative research that can unlock the potential of studying cancer from both a human and animal patient perspective, and that can go on to:
- Improve cancer diagnosis and understanding of cancer disease biology
- Develop new cancer treatments or improve existing treatments
- Improve quality of life for humans and animals with cancer
Humanimal Trust is the only organisation in the UK with the sole and specific purpose of progressing One Medicine. It drives collaboration between vets, doctors, researchers, nurses and allied professions so that all humans and animals benefit from sustainable and equal medical progress, but not at the expense of an animal’s life. This is One Medicine.
Iva Hauptmannova, research support consultant at Humanimal Trust, said: “Cancer does not discriminate between species. Approximately one in four dogs, one in three cats, and as many as one in two humans will develop cancer during their lifetime[1].
“We know that tumour biology, development and prognosis can be remarkably similar between humans and animals for certain types of cancer. This and other factors, such as humans and companion animals living in the same environment and many sharing similar lifestyles, opens up huge opportunities for cross-disciplinary knowledge sharing and learning between human and animal researchers, and clinicians in cancer research.”
Expressions of Interest should be submitted by 5pm on 29 December 2024 and successful applicants will be invited to submit a full application, which will be assessed by the charity’s Science Committee, made up of leading human and animal health professionals, academics and researchers from around the world.
Professor Roberto La Ragione, chair of trustees at Humanimal Trust and interim chair of the science committee, said: “A collaborative, One Medicine approach can and will benefit all species and ensure a more sustainable future. We believe the integration of ‘natural’ or ‘spontaneous’ disease data from companion animals into clinical development programmes has the potential to accelerate clinical and drug development research for all species.
“This has already been recognised in the field of comparative oncology and with initiatives such as the NIH Comparative Oncology Programme and the Integrated Canine Data Commons. Yet despite the success of these initiatives, the concept of One Medicine is not yet routinely used to progress cancer research. We hope our Cancer Discovery Fund will encourage positive change in this area and we look forward to receiving applications to the Fund.”
Further details about the Fund can be found on Humanimal Trust’s website. Recruitment is currently underway for a Chair and member of the charity’s Science Committee. Anyone interested in applying can find out more on the website.
