Summer Sports Challenges Runners to Fund Cancer Research

Queen Mary University of London staff, students and alumni have been joining the fight against cancer with a series of charity sports challenges this summer, including the British 10k Run, the London Triathlon and the Thames Path Challenge.

Every penny raised through sponsorship will go towards research being undertaken at Queen Mary University of London’s Barts Cancer Institute (BCI).

PhD student Doon MacDonald from the School of Electronic Engineering and Materials Science, alumni Roberto Ray (Computer Science, 2010), Kevin Leis (Hispanic Studies, 2010) and Dr Ilya Kantsedikas (Medicine, 2013) also took part in the London Triathlon  – the world’s largest – between 2^nd and  3^rd of  August.

Another team of BCI academics will also take part in the Thames Path Challenge in September, where participants can choose to walk or run a 25km, 50km or 100km route.

Lecturer Dr Sarah Martin will be leading a team including Medical Oncology Consultant Dr Michelle Lockley, Dr Katiuscia Bianchi, and Dr Susana Godinho, walking from Cookham to Henley to raise funds for cancer research.

Professor Nick Lemoine, Director of BCI, explains: “Not only are we hoping to raise funds, but also public awareness of the ground-breaking research being carried out at BCI and across QMUL. Every donation, however small, helps us buy vital equipment.

Just £5 funds a DNA sequencing test so we can find out whether a tumour sample has a known gene mutation. £1,000 could pay for the sequencing of an entire genome of a cancer, so we can better understand it and develop ways to kill it completely.”