BACR/Astex Pharmaceuticals - Roger Griffin Prize for Cancer Drug Discovery

The British Association for Cancer Research is proud to announce the annual Roger Griffin Prize for Cancer Drug Discovery, generously supported by Astex Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, UK.

Background

Roger Griffin passed away in September 2014 following a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Roger was a highly successful and internationally respected medicinal chemist, and a longstanding and valued member of the BACR. He was Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Co-director of the Cancer Research UK Drug Discovery Programme at Newcastle University. Roger graduated in Pharmacy from the University of Portsmouth in 1981 and completed a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry at Aston University. He moved to Newcastle in 1990, and became Professor in 2001. The main focus of Roger’s research was anticancer drug design, with a particular emphasis on the medicinal chemistry of antitumour agents that modulate DNA damage repair and cell cycle progression. Roger was passionate about the BACR’s mission to support and nurture talented young cancer researchers across the UK and we are privileged to be able to award this prize in his honour.

The Award

The Roger Griffin Prize for Cancer Drug Discovery is an annual prize of £1000 awarded to the PhD student or Post-doctoral Fellow who publishes the best paper on cancer drug discovery as judged by the BACR Executive Committee. The winner will also have the opportunity to present an oral paper at the BACR 60th Anniversary conference with all conference expenses paid.

Eligibility and how to apply

Applicants for the award must be a PhD student or Post-doctoral Fellow (up to 8 years maximum post PhD, allowing for career breaks) at the time of application and must submit one PDF document (Applicants must adhere to this format or the application will be returned without consideration by BACR) which includes a completed award application form; the publication (as highlighted below) and a letter of support from their supervisor. If in any doubt about eligibility please contact Janet Alexander at the BACR Secretariat for assistance. The publication can be focussed on any aspect of cancer drug discovery related to chemistry, biology or both and must be available electronically online no sooner than January 1st and no later than December 31st of the previous year. The applicant must be first or last author. Shared first authorship is permissible. Applicants must either be a BACR member or become a member at the time of application. They must also be undertaking research in the UK or Republic of Ireland, but do not need to be a national of that country.

Roger Griffin Prize Application Form

Please email all relevant documentation to Janet Alexander (BACR Secretariat) at: bacr@leeds.ac.uk with BACR Roger Griffin Prize in the subject line of the email.