£100,000 to support life-saving research

Updated: 28 Jan 2025

Representatives from the Oddfellows visited the Centre for Cancer Immunology to present the first installment of funding from the Society's HA Andrews Memorial Fund and discover how it will support developments in cancer research.

Immunology is a ground-breaking development in the fight against cancer. It offers less invasive treatment for patients, and the results so far are extraordinary.

The Centre, which opened at Southampton General Hospital in 2018, and is funded entirely by donations, is the most recent beneficiary of a gift from the HA Andrews Memorial Fund. The Fund will provide three years of support for a talented PhD student, Nur Zainal, whose research will focus on a specific gene which can potentially be manipulated to target cancer cells in a new vaccine.

Professor Edd James, Dr Tim Fenton and Donor Relations Officer Asha Ellis sitting at a table listening to Nur Zainal speak about her research
Nur Zainal shares her experience working with and studying cancerous cells, and what her research hopes to achieve

The first donation of £33,000 marks the start of a three-year partnership, which will see the Oddfellows donate a total £100,000, supporting Nur's research and furthering the University of Southampton's efforts in developing better and more effective treatments for patients.

Guernsey Oddfellows member, Eric Ferbrache, nominated the project for funding after learning about the Centre's work when it initially opened.

He said: "I personally think it is such a worthwhile project, and the research they are doing around how we an use our body's immune system to better treat different types of cancers is a great advancement. I'm so pleased that it was chosen for the most recent round of funding."

Funding future discoveries

The Centre for Cancer Immunology sits next to Southampton General Hospital, and as a result allows scientists and oncologists to work in tandem, collaborating to advance critical areas of research. Through Nur's scholarship, her and the rest of the team's work will enable further discovery work on the biological mechanisms that allow us to develop better ways of harnessing immunity to fight cancer. The ultimate goal is to create a vaccine that could fundamentally change the prognosis for patients with cancer, particularly lung, breast, head and neck, oesophageal, and bladder cancers. 

Anything we can do to help the efforts to find a cure is hugely important to us. Jane Nelson, CEO of the Oddfellows

On 16 November, Grand Master David Ogden, Deputy Grand Master Barbara Needham, and CEO Jane Nelson visited the team to learn more about how we can use our immune systems to help fight cancer. A detailed tour of the Centre and its lab was provided by Professor Edd James and Dr Tim Fenton, who are leading the research.

Professor Edd James talks with CEO Jane Nelson and Grand Master David Ogden as he shows them around a white lab
Professor Edd James gave the Oddfellows a tour of the state-of-the-art laboratory facilities 

Dr Tim Fenton, Associate Professor in Cancer Biology at the University of Southampton, said: “Our proposal to study the role of RNA editing in cancer cells was selected from amongst a list of 27 submitted from different universities across the UK. We’d like to extend our gratitude to the Guernsey Oddfellows, who supported our application to The HA Andrews Memorial Fund.”

Jane Nelson, CEO at the Oddfellows, said: "Sadly, many of our members and their families have been affected by cancer, which is why we are proud to support this incredible research with The HA Andrews Fund. Anything we can do to help the efforts to find a cure is hugely important to us."

Members of the Oddfellows and staf at the Centre for Cancer Immunology pose for a group picture holding a large cheque for thirty-three thousand pounds
L-R: Grand Master David Ogden, Dr Tim Fenton, Professor Edd James, Nur Zaidal, Deputy Grand Master Barbara Needham, Katherine DeRetuerto Associate Director of Development, CEO Jane Nelson and Oddfellows member Eric Ferbrache.

The HA Andrews Memorial Fund was created in honour of Herbert Arthur Andrews in 1971 and, since then, has contributed more than £1,214,000 to medical research projects across the UK. The Fund is awarded with an intentional focus on supporting research into improving understanding, diagnosis or cures for conditions that adversely affect human life.

Visit the Giving Back section of our website to find out more about the Fund and our many other charitable efforts.

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