7
Legacy gift funds medical research at Keele
Local resident Joseph Herbert Boughey made a gift in his will to support medical research at Keele , a choice that will continue to have a positive impact on the lives of those who will benefit in the future from the research that takes place .
Joseph ’ s gift will go toward funding three PhD projects in the Keele University School of Medicine , two of which have also been kindly matchfunded by the Haywood Foundation .
Tom Kingstone , Primary Community and Social Care , is the lead supervisor on one of the projects , SOAR ( Supporting older adults with low mood to access care in rural areas ), and said of the project : “ Older adults ( 60yrs +) living in rural areas are disadvantaged when it comes to accessing support for mental health problems , such as depression .
“ This PhD provides an opportunity to work with rural community members to explore these disadvantages and then co-design solutions to support help-seeking for depression . The student will lead development of a new Rural Mental Health Research Partnership to embed public involvement at all stages .”
The two other projects supported by the legacy gift are ; ‘ Addressing biopsychosocial-spiritual needs in osteoporosis consultations : a mixed methods study ’ and ‘ Illness perceptions and outcomes in people living with gout ’, with studies due to commence in 2025 .
To find out more about any of these projects , please email alumni . hq @ keele . ac . uk
Find out more at haywoodfoundation . org
Did you know you can leave Keele a gift in your will of 1 % of your estate , which ensures your family inherits the remainder ? Every % makes 100 % difference .
Gift in a will helps fund cancer research
To leave a gift , the only information your will writer needs is our exempt charity number X80032 .
If you would like to discuss in more detail , please email alumni . hq @ keele . ac . uk
The incidence of cancer has been increasing steadily , nowadays affecting 1 in 2 people . While the diagnosis and treatments have improved over the years , too many people perish from this disease .
When cancer develops , it could shed cancer cells into the blood system even at early stages of tumour formation , which could in turn cause metastases . Many cancer deaths are caused by the metastatic burden rather than the primary tumour .
Thus , early diagnosis is paramount as it increases the chances of long survival and even cure . Within this remit , Professor Josep Sulé-Suso ’ s team at Keele University has developed a new method to identify single cancer cells in blood .
In collaboration with Professor Paul Roach at Loughborough University , Professor Sulé-Suso has been using an infrared light to detect single cancer cells in blood based on the chemical differences between cancer cells and blood cells . The technology is called ‘ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy ’ and this novel application in detecting cancer cells in blood can be applied in screening people at risk of developing cancer ; diagnosing cancer earlier ; assessing how well cancer responds to treatment ; and detecting early cancer recurrence after the treatment is completed .
The funds provided to Keele by a gift in a will from Mr Desmond Howe are now supporting a full-time PhD student , Charlotte Evans , to further this work so patients with most types of cancer can benefit . Charlotte is based at the Guy Hilton Research Centre , Keele University , where she took a Masters course on Cell and Tissue Engineering .
Since a young age , she has been interested in science and medicine and this passion has only grown the more she advanced her career . This PhD studentship is providing her further knowledge on cancer cell biology , chemistry and data analysis . The combination of all these should help her to develop a pan-cancer tool to improve the management of cancer .
If you would like to find out more about this research , please email alumni . hq @ keele . ac . uk