On 10th January 2019, Dr Jérome Paggetti, Principal Investigator at LIH’s Department of Oncology, received the Legs Kanning Prize from the association Action Lions Vaincre le Cancer. This prize awards researchers who devote their career to cancer research and is based on scientific achievement.

Action Lions Vaincre le Cancer, created in 1976, is a recognised public-interest organisation that supports the fight against cancer. It annually awards the “Legs Kanning Prize”, derived from the testamentary legacy of Mr. Eugène W. Kanning, to researchers working in the field of cancer screening, treatment or prevention. Until now, a total of more than 400,000 Euros have already been distributed to deserving researchers.

This year, the prize was handed during the 14th Legs Kanning conference that took place at the headquarters of the Luxembourgish bank Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL). After a speech from Mr Hugues Delcourt, CEO of BIL, and Prof Marc Diederich, president of Action Lions Vaincre la Cancer, Dr Paggetti gave a talk on his research topic to an audience of more than 100 invited members of the Lions Club Luxembourg. He presented the objectives and recent achievements of the “Tumour Stroma Interactions” research group (Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, Department of Oncology) that he jointly leads with Dr Etienne Moussay. It investigates the role of the microenvironment in tumour progression. Focusing on haematological malignancies such as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, Dr Paggetti and his group aim at identifying new prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic strategies.

‘The invitation by Action Lions Vaincre le Cancer allowed me to introduce our work to a broad audience and raise awareness on the current challenges in cancer research’, states Dr Paggetti. ‘The award is a nice recognition and strengthens my motivation to conduct application-oriented research from which cancer patients can benefit in the long term.’