The Roger Counter Foundation has generously agreed to support two additional Early Stage Research grants in the field of Lymphoma in 2019. The deadline for applications is 30 June 2019.
The Roger Counter Foundation are a small charity seeking to support people diagnosed with lymphoma through financial assistance, raising public awareness and funding research.
You can find more about the Roger Counter foundation’s projects on their website, and read below how previous grant recipients have benefited from the earlier Roger Counter Foundation-British Society for Haematology Scholarship.
If you are interested in applying, see our BSH Early-Stage Research Start-up grants page for more details.
"I gained a huge amount through the funding of the Roger Counter Foundation and BSH I believe that it has been a really important springboard to my career."
I was fortunate to receive a prestigious Roger Counter foundation / BSH fellowship in 2012.
At the time I received the grant I was a clinical Haematology trainee looking to enhance my training by undertaking a laboratory research degree. This fellowship helped fund my laboratory research in follicular lymphoma at Kings College London.
Through this grant I was able to undertake novel research into the role of the microenvironment in the pathophysiology of follicular lymphoma. My work focused on the role of T follicular helper cells in the tumour microenvironment and used novel techniques including immunofluorescent confocal microscopy and sequencing of T cell receptor repertoires. This work helped us to develop our understanding of the pathophysiology of this disease and may be built on to develop prognostic tools and potentially therapeutic targets too.
Though this funding I was able to complete a successful MD Research degree. I also presented my findings at several meetings including as an oral presentation at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) where I won an abstract achievement award. At this meeting my work was also highlighted in one of the ‘ASH Highlights’ sessions which is a rare achievement. This work is ongoing and is currently in preparation for submission for publication.
I gained a huge amount through the funding of the Roger Counter Foundation and BSH I believe that it has been a really important springboard to my career. Following completion of my research degree I have been appointed as a Haematologist with a specialist interest in lymphoma at University College London Hospitals. I continue to develop my interest in lymphoma and coordinate a comprehensive portfolio phase 1 trials investigating new agents in the treatment of lymphoma. I also sit on the national low grade lymphoma sub-group helping to design and deliver the next generation of clinical trials in the UK.
I am tremendously grateful to the Roger Counter foundation / BSH for providing me with this research funding that has undoubtedly helped me in my career development.
I was awarded the BSH Roger Counter Foundation award in 2012 for my research on developing a patient derived xenograft model for mantle cell lymphoma. The work I was able to do as a result of the grant formed an important part of my thesis investigating the pathogenesis of this rare lymphoma. In addition to publishing a manuscript in Blood, I published my work on this xenograft model in the British Journal of Haematology.
I was appointed to the Royal Marsden hospital as a consultant in lymphoid malignancies in 2014 and hold an honorary appointment with the Institute of Cancer Research. I am grateful to BSH and the Roger Counter foundation for providing me the support to carry out this important piece of work which has opened up exciting opportunities for further lymphoma research and collaboration in my current position.