14/09/2012

Darren Clarke Donates £80k To QUB Cancer Research

Northern Ireland golfer Darren Clarke visited Queen's University today to donate £80,000 to cancer research - a cause close to his heart.

The 2011 Open Champion lost his first wide, Heather, to breast cancer in 2006 at the age of 39.

Since then his Darren Clarke Foundation has been a major supporter of breast cancer research.

The £80,000 he donated today went to the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB).

The gift was received by Dr David Waugh, Acting Director of the CCRCB in the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen's. He said the donation would help the centre "accelerate the pace and quality of cancer research worldwide".

He said: "More women in Northern Ireland are surviving breast cancer than ever before, thanks to earlier detection and better treatments. But there is so much more to be done to increase our impact on this disease."

The CCRCB is key part of the Northern Ireland Comprehensive Cancer Services (CCS) programme which, despite the rising incidence of cancer in Northern Ireland, has led to the number of people surviving the disease here increasing significantly year on year.

Each year there are between 50-60 men and women who survive the deadly effects of cancer who previously would have died.

Queen’s was awarded a Diamond Jubilee Queen's Anniversary Prize at Buckingham Palace earlier this year for its leadership of the CCS which is in partnership with the Department of Health and the five Northern Ireland health trusts and supported by the medical research industry.

Dr Waugh added: "At CCRCB, with the continued support of donors, large and small, we can continue to wage war on cancer."

(NE)

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