Research Home :

Prize for scientist funded By Help the Aged Research into Ageing

A prestigious scientific award called the ‘Entente Cordiale Cancer Prize’ has been won by a scientist whose breakthrough research was funded by the Help the Aged biomedical Research into Ageing programme.

We funded the research of prize winner Dr Duncan Baird of Cardiff University from 2001 to 2004, during which time he made a scientific breakthrough that is paving the way for better health in older age.

His study focused on telomeres, which are the structures in DNA that control cell division. Telomeres steadily shrink and get damaged throughout our lives, promoting health problems and clearly affecting the way we age. 

Dr Baird’s breakthrough was the development of a way to study telomere length down to a very precise level, unlocking the potential of the telomere to guide scientists to new treatments and understanding. As he put it, 'the new technique means that we can now move from theory to fact in this area of research'.

One possibility is to tackle cancerous tumours by fixing the specific damage to telomeres that can cause cancerous cells to proliferate.

Help the Aged recognises that biomedical research is invaluable to help older people fulfil their potential and live healthy, independent lives. We aim to increase our funding for biomedical research to £5 million within five years and will announce funding for about 20 valuable new studies in January 2007.

The original Entente Cordiale was signed in 1904 so that Britain and France could unite against common enemies. The Cancer Prize was set up in 2004 to mark the agreement’s 100th anniversary.