A leading cancer scientist at the University of Cambridge is to receive this year's medical research award from the charitable foundation of India's largest pharmaceutical company.

The Ranbaxy Foundation has recognised the work of Professor Ashok Venkitaraman, a specialist on the genetic basis of cancer. He has been singled out for work which has uncovered how mutations in certain genes can make people more susceptible to cancer.

Professor Venkitaraman is the Ursula Zoellner Professor of Cancer Research at the University, and Joint Director of the Medical Research Council's Cancer Cell Unit.

He and his colleagues have been researching why cancer is more frequent in some families; and in particular, why women who inherit a faulty copy of a gene known as BRCA2 have a high risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer.

They have been able to demonstrate that the BRCA2 gene works as a guardian of the information encoded in the human genome by repairing damage in the genetic material, DNA, and have been able to determine the steps that lead to cancer in women who inherit the faulty gene.

This in turn has led to new approaches for the treatment of cancer.

Professor Venkitaraman has been instrumental in the establishment of a University-wide multi-disciplinary initiative to exploit the explosion in the understanding of the molecular basis for cancer. The Cambridge Molecular Therapeutics Programme (CMTP) seeks to pioneer methods for the discovery and development of a wider range of next-generation drugs which work against new types of molecular targets by pooling expertise from across chemical, physical and biological research boundaries.

Ranbaxy Science Foundation, a non profit organization promoted by Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, encourages scientific endeavours in India and by Indians living abroad by encouraging and rewarding excellence in medical and pharmaceutical research and channelling national and international knowledge and expertise. A total of 104 scientists have thus far been honoured by the RSF with Research Awards.

Professor Venkitaraman trained at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, near Chennai in Southern India. He completed his PhD at University College London, and joined the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge in 1988, before being elected to the professorship in 1998. He is a fellow of Pembroke College and an Emeritus Fellow of New Hall.

He said: “I am delighted to receive this honour from the Ranbaxy Foundation. My interest in the genetic basis of cancer was first sparked when I trained in medicine at the Christian Medical College, and I am pleased to have had the opportunity to pursue this interest at the University of Cambridge.

"The award is as much a tribute to my colleagues in Cambridge who have made essential contributions to this work.”

The award will be presented at a ceremony in New Delhi on 14 January, when the University's Vice-Chancellor will also be in India. Professor Alison Richard will be making a two-week visit to the cities of New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai in early January to celebrate and strengthen the extensive historical and ongoing links between Cambridge and India.

Last week the University hosted a dinner for more than 200 guests at Trinity College to celebrate those links and to honour His Excellency Kamalesh Sharma, a graduate of King's College, who is standing down as High Commissioner of India in London to become the first ever Indian Secretary General of the Commonwealth Association.

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