| Pictured with the donated high performance liquid chromatograph are (... Pictured with the donated high performance liquid chromatograph are (l to r) Professor Philip Clingan (GSM), Associate Professor Marie Ranson (Biological Sciences), Professor John Bremner (Chemistry) and Rex Saunders (Illawarra Cancer Carers) |
Equipment donation to aid UOW’s fight against cancer
12 Sep 2007 | Renee Criddle
The Illawarra Cancer Carers presented a $58,000 piece of equipment to the University of Wollongong today (Wednesday 12 September) that will be of great value to the anti-cancer drug formulation research initiative.
The high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) was officially presented to Honorary Clinical Professor from the Graduate Medical School, Professor Philip Clingan, Professor John Bremner from the School of Chemistry and Associate Professor Marie Ranson from the School of Biological Sciences.
President of the Illawarra Cancer Carers, Mr Rex Saunders, was joined by fellow members to make the official presentation.
“We sincerely hope this will be a most worthwhile piece of equipment that will further aid your very important research,” said Mr Saunders.
He also pointed out that donations from the Illawarra Cancer Carers to UOW have now totalled over $277,000.
“We are looking at rounding this figure up to $300,000 as soon as possible,” he said.
High Performance Liquid Chromatography is now one of the most powerful tools in analytical chemistry with the ability to separate, identify and quantitate the compounds that are present in any sample that can be dissolved in a liquid in an exquisitely sensitive way.
The equipment will be a significant aid to the anti-cancer drug research team in their quest to develop mixtures of drugs that should have fewer side effects and increased effectiveness in the treatment of cancer.
The new formulation of drug components has shown considerable promise against cancer cells and is now being tested in animals. After the animal experiments, Professor Clingan and Professor Bremner and their team hope to further develop this drug combination for use in humans.
“The HPLC will be a vital tool in monitoring the stability of the novel formulations being developed as well as being of key importance in preclinical studies involving the distribution of the drugs in vivo and their rate of metabolism,” said Professor Bremner.
“The tremendous and ongoing support of the Illawarra Cancer Carers is most gratefully acknowledged. Thankyou for being such great supporters of the work we do.”
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