Brock research bolstered by Ride for Dad grant
Funds will be used to look at rosemary as cancer inhibitor
Sprinkling a little extra rosemary on that roasted chicken might be a good idea.
Brock University researchers are studying the herb’s potential as a cancer fighting drug – made possible with new funding from TELUS Ride For Dad.
As dozens of bikers revved their engines and prepared to roll out of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 24 hall in Niagara-on-theLake to participate in the ninth annual Ride For Dad, Saturday morning, event organizers presented Brock health sciences graduate student Alina Jaglanian with a $24,000 cheque to help support the research she’s involved in -- studying the cancer fighting properties of the polyphenols.
Polyphenols are chemical compounds, often referred to as antioxidants, and they’re found in abundance within rosemary.
“This grant will help us to fund that research, so we’ll look to see if rosemary can inhibit growth and survival of prostate cancer cells,” said Jaglanian, who works with Brock associate professor Dr. Evangelina Tsiani.
If successful, the work the researchers are now doing could form the basis for additional testing in animals, and ultimately the development of new more effective chemotherapy treatments for prostate cancer, Jaglanian said.
Previous research by the university has also shown rosemary has more uses than fighting prostate cancer — and adding flavour to roasted chicken.
A research paper published in October 2016, also determined that rosemary extract was effective against lung cancer too, stopping the survival and spread of laboratory-grown cancer cells.
But the grant, Jaglanian added, will allow the researchers to narrow their focus specifically to prostate cancer — the most commonly diagnosed men’s cancer, and second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in North America. In total, Ride for Dad executive committee member Damian Parrent said the event has brought in $200,000 during its part eight years, through the participation of more than 1,500 bikers.
And all of that money has benefitted people in Niagara.
“Our goal is that everything we raise to stays here,” said St. Catharines urologist Dr. Ian Brown, and Ride for Dad executive member.
He said the local ride was initially held to help raise funds for the Walker Family Cancer Centre.
When that facility opened its doors a few years ago, he said funds raised through the annual event were used to help other local efforts – such as sponsoring the involvement of local patients in international research studies, and contributing to research being led by Dr. Theos Tsakiridis, a radiation oncologist at Juravinski Cancer Centre.
“And now we’re tied in with Brock,” Brown said. “The whole goal is to try and be generative in a local way, as much as everything else.”
In addition to contributing to prostate cancer research, Brown said funds raised through the ride also help pay for advertising campaigns increasing awareness about the disease, and the need to be screened.