The Paul O'Gorman Building
Opened in 2005 by the late Sir Bobby Robson, funding for the Paul O’Gorman Building was provided by Cancer Research UK, CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA (a charity formed by the family of Paul who died from leukaemia at the age of 15) and the government’s Strategic Research Initiative. Equipment funding was kindly provided by the North of England Children’s Cancer Research Fund, and the facility now houses over 100 research staff.
The building consists of apparatus designed to detect genetic changes in gene expression levels in patient samples with cancer. This apparatus allows our scientists to determine the exact cellular damage present; it is essential for treatment stratification and the identification of novel drugs.
We occupy a range of specialist microscopes, which are used to examine the structure of cancer cells with great sensitivity. We have a suite of sophisticated fluorescence activated cell analysers for sorting cells according to the range of proteins expressed on their cell surface.
With our complex chromatography equipment we are able to measure blood concentration of a wide range of anti-cancer agents present in a patient's bloodstream to establish whether the optimal therapeutic dose has been achieved.
