Donor Robert Spier is funding PhD student's breakthrough in brain cancer
PhD student Himani Rana explains her breakthough in brain cancer research to donor Robert Spier
Robert Spier is supporting brain cancer research at Birmingham in memory of his wife.
Jean Spier lived an amazing life. As a child, she survived the bombing of her street in Liverpool during the Blitz. She grew up to give so much to others, as a volunteer for the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, the RNLI and the Princes Trust. She received an Excellence in Volunteering award for 20 years’ service.
She would have gone on to do much more if not for an aggressive brain tumour, diagnosed in December 2016, which led to her death within a year. Robert, her husband since 1965, is supporting brain cancer research at the University so that more people like Jean might survive in future.
Why I support this research
Robert says, 'I want to be part of finding better treatments for the type of cancer which my wife Jean died of in 2017. I'm supporting brain cancer research at the University of Birmingham because I want my donation to go directly to specific frontline research.'
The impact of Birmingham’s brain cancer research to date
Robert’s donations have established a PhD Studentship in the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, in memory of Jean. Himani Rana began her studentship in September 2019 by investigating cancer cell metabolism and the development of gliomas. She has identified that two nutrient transporters play subtly different roles in the way they function in the cell, even though they were originally believed to perform the same function.
Gift Aid on Robert’s gift has also funded a 4th year extension for a particularly talented PhD student, Rebecca Westbrook, who is working on the interface between breast cancers and brain tumours. Her 4th year would focus specifically on brain tumours. Her work investigates how the cancer cells in low oxygen environments metabolise an amino acid called proline; blocking this kills cancer cells, so we are very excited about how we could use these results to develop new therapies for patients with brain tumours or breast cancer.
Find out how you could fund vital research like this
If you are inspired by Robert’s gift and the breakthroughs in cancer research being made by PhD students, get in touch to see whether supporting research like this could be right for you.