Research

HIGHER COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS & RETURN TO WORK IN LGGS

Professor Stephen J. Price BSc MBBS (Hons) PhD FRCS (Neuro Surg), Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

We are now into the second year of funding PhD student Jasmine Kennedy who is carrying out this project under the supervision of Prof Price.  A questionnaire was devised for LGG patients, the results of which are now being analysed by Jasmine before moving onto the next stage of this important and worthwhile project.

The ultimate aim of the study is:

“We hope to better understand the barriers/issues about return to work for patients. We will better understand changes in executive function and explore if we can combine different executive function subskills and rehabilitation to reinforce them. Working with patients and the public as well as the Tessa Jowell Academy members we will develop a vocational rehabilitation programme for our patients and aim to trial this in a small number so that we can assess the feasibility of the study and have developed a rehabilitation method that could go forwards to a multi-centre efficacy study with NIHR funding”.

DEVELOPING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS TO MONITOR LGGS

Professor Stephen J. Price BSc MBBS (Hons) PhD FRCS (Neuro Surg), Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Prof Stephen Price is in the process of selecting a PhD student to carry out this research and the project is scheduled to commence in 2024.

Prof Price states:

“It is hoped that by the end of this study we will have developed a tool that will allow monitoring tumours and aim to have a method that would predict high risk low grade gliomas to individualise follow up of patients. At the end of this study we will arrange a national meeting to discuss how we proceed with a national trial”

REGULATION OF SIGNALLING IN PAEDIATRIC LOW-GRADE GLIOMAS

Denise Sheer, D.Phil. Professor of Human Genetics Barts & The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London

“Low-grade gliomas are the most common brain tumours in children. While there have been improvements in treatment for these tumours in the last few years, many children still suffer from long-term health problems caused by the side effects of treatment or by the tumours
themselves. We need to have a better understanding of what controls the growth of these tumours so that we can improve the outcome for patients. Our laboratory has recently identified molecules called RNA and proteins that are altered in children’s low-grade gliomas.
The major aim of our research programme is to determine which of these molecular changes play a role in the growth of these tumours and to understand how they do it. We hope that our findings will help to develop better treatments for children with low-grade gliomas”.

Update:

We are continuing to fund Prof Denise Sheer with her research into paediatric low grade glioma brain tumours.  Our present funding of this research came to an end in October 2023 and we are pleased to report that great progress has been made.  A more detailed report will follow in due course.  We are also delighted to report that we have agreed to fund Denise’s assistant Lewis for a further six months to further the work already carried out.