LONDON, August 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
BTG plc (LSE: BTG), a global specialist
healthcare company, and the Society of Interventional Oncology
(SIO), an international organisation working to nurture and support
interventional oncology worldwide, have expanded their commitment
to the Immuno-Oncology / Interventional Oncology research grant
programme, by announcing a second round of funding available to
investigators.
Interventional oncology, which includes a range of minimally
invasive, image guided, loco-regional therapies, and
immuno-oncology, using the body's own immune system to treat
cancer, are two areas of scientific interest that have great
potential for improving cancer therapy. The SIO grant programme is
designed to fund cutting-edge research initiatives to investigate
the potential for these therapeutic approaches to work in
combination. Specifically, the programme is looking to fund
research proposals that:
- Evaluate immune stimulation of interventional oncologic
therapies
- Combination approaches to improve clinical outcome
- Improve the understanding of underlying mechanisms as to how
different loco-regional therapies influence both adaptive and
innate immunity
Earlier this year, four investigators were awarded grants at the
World Conference on Interventional Oncology (WCIO) in Boston to further their cutting-edge research
in the field. Their project proposals ranged from exploratory pilot
projects to prospective clinical trials. The winners were chosen by
the SIO Immuno-Oncology / Interventional Oncology Committee, a
panel of international experts which includes both interventional
radiologists and immuno-oncologists.
With a large number of high quality submissions and the level of
interest in the programme to date, BTG and SIO have announced their
intention to expand the programme to ensure more collaborative
research will be funded and accelerate the pace of scientific
advancement in the combination of interventional oncology and
immuno-oncology therapies.
"We are very pleased with the ongoing generosity of BTG
that will continue to enable the SIO to fund additional
meritorious, cutting-edge research that combines the strengths
of interventional oncology and immuno-oncology -
two disciplines that hold great promise for improving cancer
therapy," said S. Nahum Goldberg,
MD, SIO Interventional / Immuno-oncology Working Group Chair, and
Vice-Chair for Research and Head of the Interventional Oncology
Unit, Hadassah Hebrew University
Medical Center in Jerusalem,
Israel.
Melanie Lee, Chief Scientific
Officer of BTG, said: "We were delighted by the number of high
calibre entries we saw from investigators in response to the
original call for proposals, with lots of brilliant ideas of how to
best combine loco-regional and immunotherapies. We believe such
approaches can help new agents to penetrate solid tumour mass,
expose tumour specific antigens, and help the immune system to
mount a response. Given the high levels of interest, we have
decided to double our efforts and provide further funding in 2018
to support additional research in this area."
To apply for a grant, completed applications need to be
submitted online at www.io-central.org/grants by the 15th December 2017. The submission must include a
detailed research plan that outlines a one to two year budget
proposal and a letter of support from the department chair (for
faculty applicants) or fellowship director (for trainee
applicants). Grants of up to $50,000
are available for one year exploratory pilot projects and up to
$100,000 for larger one to two year
projects.
About Society of Interventional Oncology (SIO)
SIO serves as the only membership-based organization dedicated
wholly to the emerging field of Interventional Oncology (IO),
working to establish, nurture, and support IO as the fourth pillar
of cancer therapy alongside medical, surgical, and radiation
oncology worldwide. IO therapies, such as embolization and tumor
ablation, combine the expertise of oncology and radiology and use
imaging technology to diagnose and treat localized cancers in ways
that are precisely targeted and minimally or non-invasive. The
society hosts the annual World Conference on Interventional
Oncology (WCIO). For more information, please visit:
www.sio-central.org.
About BTG Interventional Medicine
BTG Interventional Medicine is part of BTG plc, a global
specialist healthcare company. As medicine moves from major surgery
to minor procedure, from the systemic to the local, no company
endeavors to do more than BTG to help doctors in their quest to see
more, reach further and treat smarter. Our growing portfolio of
Interventional Medicine products is designed to advance the
treatment of cancer, severe emphysema, severe blood clots, and
varicose veins. To learn more about BTG Interventional Medicine,
please visit: btg-im.com.
For further information contact:
SIO
Amanda Winger O'Kane, Marketing
& Communications
+1-202-367-1164
aokane@sio-central.org
BTG plc
Chris Sampson, Corporate
Communications Director
+44-20-7575-1595
Mobile: +44-7773-251-178
SOURCE BTG plc