The University of Malta will be receiving a grant of €2.5 million over the course of five years for cancer research from the Emanuele Cancer Research Foundation.

There are 60 students, academics and doctors from Mater Dei Hospital, led by 10 principal investigators, working in cancer research at the University and these grants are open to local and foreign researchers working within Malta.

This funding will give ongoing projects a welcome boost and enable them to accelerate their work, roll out trials, plan over a longer period, and create fresh opportunities for new research.

Foundation Chair Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca described this as a milestone and hoped the call would attract young researchers and scientists who were passionate about their potential to make a difference in the lives of every person touched by cancer.

“The vision of the Foundation is and will remain, to reduce the impact and burden of cancer on the people of Malta, the Mediterranean region and globally, through supporting and promoting excellent cancer research,” she said during Monday’s press conference.

“It gives me great satisfaction to launch the call for applications. This is the moment that the three founding entities have been waiting for, ever since we began the initial deliberations to establish the Emanuele Cancer Research Foundation.”

University of Malta rector Alfred Vella meanwhile said that the research fund will give the opportunity for unfettered research into any manifestation and type of cancer, while also noting that this is an important element which could allow groundbreaking discoveries as opposed to incremental improvements on knowledge that is already known.

This concept is rare; European funds normally tie one down to a timeline of deliverables along a certain project line that can perhaps intimidate researchers from being more adventurous, Vella said.

“It is with particular happiness that we can see this funding source to be so disposed to give the University such a significant amount of money, hence giving our excellent researchers that much more ability to perform work in labs with significant results”, he said.

He augured that the funding streak remains active for long beyond his rectorship of the University and hoped that results would come out of this and other funds so to improve the quality of life of those whose life depend on such research.

The grant to the University of Malta follows an investment of a further €2.5 million in cancer research equipment by the Emanuele Cancer Research Foundation. 

The Emanuele Cancer Research Foundation Malta, which is a tripartite collaboration between the Malta Trust Foundation, the University of Malta and Fondazione Terzo Pilastro Internazionale.