On Tuesday 16th September we had the privilege to visit University of Birmingham’s Medical School at the invitation of Dr Matthew Pugh (Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy), to recognise the Melanoma UK research grant we’ve awarded to them in 2025 following their successful application.
We met with the core team (grant applicants) who gave us a site tour and a fascinating insight to their research project, including a view of some of the ‘cutting edge’ technology being used to carry out the project which Melanoma UK is funding.
Accepting the grant certificate from Melanoma UK’s CEO Tracy Paine (MBE) and COO Colin Glover were the grant applicants (left to right Dr Lalit Pallan, Dr Graham Taylor and Dr Matthew Pugh accepting the certificate from Tracy).
We look forward to hearing how this ground-breaking research develops and are extremely grateful for all our supporters, fundraisers and donors who make investments like this possible and contribute to helping make a difference for patients and the fight against Melanoma
The UoB research project explores the influence of a common virus (Cytomegalavirus) which may help Melanoma patients respond better to immunotherapy. This study explores how the virus affects tumours to improve treatment predictions and outcomes.
The equipment being used such as the Cos Mx SMI (shown on the left) maps thousands of different protein and RNA molecules within cells and tissues at incredibly high resolution, showing their exact location and abundance. In simple terms, it’s like taking an incredibly detailed, high-resolution photograph of a tissue, but instead of just showing its structure, it labels and counts the specific genes and proteins present in each cell and even within the cells themselves.
