En 2016, la Fondation Victor Dahdaleh a fait un don de 5 millions de dollars envers la British Lung Foundation (BLF), l’association britannique du poumon, pour soutenir la recherche et l’étude des mésothéliomes. Au Royaume-Uni, plus de 5.400 personnes sont atteints de mésothéliomes, un type de cancer affectant la poitrine et l’abdomen, et qui est lié à l'exposition aux fibres d'amiante. Le don initial de 5 millions de dollars a permis à la communauté de recherche de décrocher près de 25 millions de livres sterling en financement supplémentaire auprès d’organismes de charité pour le cancer, compagnies d’assurance et autres instituts. En 2019, Victor Dahdaleh et le Directeur Général de la BLF ont visité Cambridge pour se renseigner sur les éléments clés du programme de recherche qui comprends une biobanque pour les mésothéliomes, des bourses de formation et un projet sur les organoïdes. La visite a inclus une courte présentation récapitulant les progrès réalisés par la biobanque et offrant l’opportunité de rencontrer les chercheurs et d’échanger sur leur travail. A la fin de la visite, Victor Dahdaleh a fait part de sa satisfaction quant à l’état d’avancement de la recherche et le soutien que le projet a déjà pu mobiliser. Il a exprimé sa reconnaissance envers la BLF pour avoir rendu sa visite possible et a salué les équipes de recherche pour leur dévouement et travail sur le projet.

1. Victor Dahdaleh visits Cambridge to see progress in Mesothelioma Research
Around £25 million of additional funding leveraged from original Victor
Dahdaleh Foundation donation
Research visit to the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research
Back row L–R: Robert Rintoul, Royal Papworth Hospital/University of Cambridge; Stefan Marciniak,
University of Cambridge; Joseph Chambers, University of Cambridge; Arsalan Azad, University of Cambridge.
Front row L–R: Joanna Obacz, University of Cambridge; Susana de Abreu, University of Cambridge; Victor
Dahdaleh, Victor Dahdaleh Foundation; Penny Woods, British Lung Foundation; Marie Shamseddin,
University of Cambridge.
—
In 2016, the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation made a £5 million donation to the British Lung
Foundation (BLF) to fund vital research into mesothelioma, matching UK government
funding of £5 million. The donation was the largest ever made to the BLF.
The landmark gift has supported research teams at the University of Leicester, the University
of Cambridge and Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, working with the
government-funded National Mesothelioma Research Centre at Imperial College London to
develop new treatments for the disease.
From that original donation, the BLF and the mesothelioma research community has
leveraged nearly £25 million of additional funding into mesothelioma research from a wide
variety of sources. This has included awards from the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC); a UK cancer charity; a re-insurance firm; together with
significant donations in kind.
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer which affects the chest or abdomen and is particularly
associated with exposure to asbestos fibres. There are more than 5,400 sufferers in the UK,
and numbers have increased over the last four decades.

2. Recently, Canadian Philanthropist, Victor Dahdaleh visited Cambridge, with British Lung
Foundation Chief Executive, Dr Penny Woods, to receive updates on progress with key
strands of the research programming: MesobanK (a mesothelioma biobank); the BLF-Royal
Papworth Hospital mesothelioma training fellowships; and the mesothelioma organoid
project.
The visit was conducted over three sites: Royal Papworth Hospital, the University of
Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
At the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research – Marciniak laboratory, a short presentation
was made by Dr Robert Rintoul on MesobanK progress and an update on the work of
MesobanK research fellows by Professor Stefan Marciniak, together with an opportunity to
meet the research fellows themselves and to and discuss their work.
Following a tour of the new Royal Papworth Hospital site, Mr Dahdaleh met with Dr Hayley
Francies and Dr Mathew Garnett, the researchers leading the mesothelioma organoid project
at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
On conclusion of the visit, Victor Dahdaleh commented:
‘It is intensely gratifying to see how the original donation that the Foundation made has
helped to generate such widespread support and interest into mesothelioma research.
Significant progress is being made on many fronts and it was uplifting to hear about the
detailed work being undertaken by a very talented and dedicated team of people in so many
areas. I would like to thank the British Lung Foundation and Dr Penny Woods for making
such a fascinating visit possible.’
Ends
For further information on The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation contact Matthew Moth at
Madano on t: +44 (0) 207 593 4000 or e: matthew.moth@madano.com
About MesobanK
MesobanK enables research by collecting high-quality blood, pleural fluid and tissue samples
linked to anonymised clinical information about patients. Established in 2012, continued
funding through the BLF and the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation has ensured on-going
collection, preparation and distribution of samples from MesobanK. As well as blood, pleural
fluid and tissue samples, the team offer access to primary cell lines and a tissue microarray
(TMA) with 1,000 patient samples.
However, a sample is only as useful as the data that goes with it. The data provided with
MesobanK samples helps researchers understand the donor’s basic characteristics, treatments
they have had and their survival status. It supports researchers in making more accurate
conclusions about what they see in their research and how this relates to people living with
mesothelioma.
The MesobanK team has worked very hard to enrich the data that goes with each sample.
They have ensured when a person donates, the key data taken is as complete as possible; they
have linked with national records on cancer patients’ treatment and survival; and linked with

3. computed tomography (CT) scans. For a tissue bank to have all this data available in one
place, sets it apart as a high-quality facility.
About the Mesothelioma organoid project
Dr Robert Rintoul is working with colleagues at Cambridge University and the Wellcome
Trust Sanger Institute to develop mesothelioma organoids as a model of the disease. Models
are very important in a research environment emulating the disease and its processes in
laboratory setting. Using cells from mesothelioma patients means models will be very
representative of the disease itself, helping researchers to study mesothelioma more
accurately and test new treatments.
About MesobanK and BLF-Royal Papworth Hospital mesothelioma training
fellowships
Post-doctoral mesothelioma training fellowships support laboratory researchers who have
already gained their PhD but need to take the next step in their career. These fellowships are
increasing and maintaining the interest of laboratory researchers in the field of mesothelioma
research. The generous donation from the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation allows this training to
occur.
The first post-doctoral fellow is working on a collaborative project between teams at the
University of Leeds and the University of Cambridge assessing the laser-based treatment of
mesothelioma. Promising results from this fellowship have been instrumental in securing a
large grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The second post-doctoral fellow has been appointed to work on the mesothelioma organoid
project – developing this vital laboratory model for researchers from patient samples. For the
first year, they will work in Professor Stefan Marciniak’s laboratory optimising the
conditions for mesothelioma organoid development before moving to work with Dr Mathew
Garnett and Dr Hayley Francies at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. The organoid models
will be made available to researchers internationally.
A third post-doctoral fellow has been appointed to evaluate the plasma membrane of primary
mesothelioma cell lines to identify novel targetable molecules or signalling pathways. They
aim to identify molecules that existing therapies can be targeted against or whose expression
is crucial to allow mesothelioma cells to grow.