Researcher receives award for contribution to brain tumour research

A researcher at the University of Birmingham has been honoured for his outstanding contribution to research that aims to find a cure for brain tumours.

Dr John Apps (pictured) has been named Young Investigator of the Year by the British Neuro-Oncology Society (BNOS).

Recognised as an early-career researcher making an outstanding contribution to the field of neuro-oncology in the UK, Dr Apps was awarded for his work on craniopharyngioma, a low-grade brain tumour most commonly found in children.

Co-sponsored by the charity Brain Tumour Research, the award saw Dr Apps presented with a £2,000 prize during the BNOS Annual Meeting, taking place virtually at the beginning of July.

Dr Apps is a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lecturer at the University of Birmingham and Paediatric Oncology Registrar at Birmingham Women 's and Children 's NHS Foundation Trust.

He is also an Honorary Lecturer at University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, where the majority of the work contributing to the prize was carried out, during a Cancer Research UK funded PhD fellowship.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted to win this award. Paediatric craniopharyngioma is a niche area and it is great to be recognised within the wider field of neuro-oncology.

“In receiving this award, I am also extremely grateful to my supervisors, their teams, and the very wide range of collaborators and contributors who have made the work possible. ”

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet historically just 1 per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the disease.

Patients with craniopharyngioma are currently treated with surgery, followed by radiotherapy. During his PhD, John helped identify novel treatment strategies for these patients.

In particular, by understanding which genes are expressed within the tumour, he was able to identify targets for drugs. One group of drugs called MEK inhibitors has given encouraging results and it is hoped that a clinical trial will be open later this year.

Sue Farrington Smith MBE, chief executive at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We send our congratulations to John for this well-deserved recognition of his work into this very under-researched brain tumour.

“We are proud to co-sponsor the Young Investigator Award with BNOS. It is so vital that young researchers are encouraged to remain in the field of brain tumour research as they are the future and will unlock this complex puzzle, getting us closer to a cure for this devastating disease. ”