“Your legacy is planting seeds that you will never see flower.
Your legacy is knowing that you’ve done better for the next generation. Your legacy is having the rebellious hope that the actions you take today will create a better society tomorrow”
Dame Deborah James
The Bowelbabe Vaccine
Designing next generation cancer vaccines
Backed by the Bowelbabe Fund, researchers in Cardiff are developing a one-size-fits-all vaccine to treat bowel cancer. Their pioneering approach could lead to an accessible, universal vaccine to treat the disease and potentially prevent some cases altogether.
Cancer Grand Challenges
Team REWIRE-CAN
We're excited to be supporting our third Cancer Grand Challenge team -
REWIRE-CAN.
The team is taking a different approach to cancer therapy, developing precise signalling modulators to disrupt cancer cells' finely tuned ‘Goldilocks’ state, rewiring them to self-destruct. In doing so, REWIRE-CAN aims to transform therapeutic approaches and patient outcomes in colorectal cancer.
Predicting polyps, improving care and reducing bowel cancer risk
Dr Phillip Dunne is designing better tests to measure someone’s risk of developing new polyps (growths in the bowel) after they’re removed.
He’s studying thousands of biological samples to find more accurate tell-tale signs to help people access appropriate follow-up care and reduce their risk of bowel cancer.
New Projects Coming Soon
Watch this space!
Bowelbabe Fund
Consultant & Fellow
We are funding a new gastrointestinal (GI) Consultant and Clinical Fellow as part of Professor David Cunningham's team at the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital.
Professor Cunningham was Deborah's oncologist. These two roles lead early phase clinical trials and focus on researching personalised medicines including cancer vaccines.
Bowel Star
We have committed £500k to a multi-organisation project, involving a number of university and NHS collaborators. This study is being led by researchers from the University of Edinburgh and Queen Mary University of London. The study will collect lifestyle data from 20,000 people who’ve had tests for blood in their poo. It’ll be used to create a new, risk-based screening strategy for bowel cancer.
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Cancer Grand Challenges -
Team PROSPECT
In March 2024, alongside global funders we committed £5 million, over five years, to uncover the reasons behind the global rise in early-on set bowel cancer. This is a cancer type that’s on the rise but it’s not well understood, and we don’t know for sure what’s causing it.
The Bowelbabe Laboratory at The Francis Crick Institute
In October 2024 we donated £1.6m to the Francis Crick Institute. This will see researchers in The Bowelbabe Laboratory led by Professor Vivian Li, study lab-made ‘mini-bowels’ to aid the development of new, more targeted treatments for bowel cancer.
Cancer Grand Challenges - Team OPTIMISTICC
We made a £1m investment to the OPTIMISTICC Cancer Grand Challenges team who are analysing the microbiome – the trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi residing in our bodies to find out how these microbes can drive cancer & influence a person’s response to treatment.
Cancer Research UK
Test, Evidence and Transition
We're supporting Cancer Research UK’s pioneering ‘Test Evidence Transition’ (TET) programme, which aims to improve bowel cancer diagnosis for everyone across the UK and ultimately, save more lives.
The Fund will be providing support for the two-year programme.
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