Professor Jukka Westermarck has been carrying out research into the biology of cancer for almost 30 years. His research group has endeavoured to identify signalling mechanisms in cancer cells that promote malignancy in cancer. The group’s most significant achievement has been identification of the CIP2A oncoprotein. This has provided new outlooks regarding the future opportunities of cancer treatment.

Westermarck, who carries out internationally significant research and actively advocates for better conditions for doing research, received Orion Research Foundation’s special grant of EUR 100,000 on 27 October.

“I am really pleased about this. In addition to research, the award considers scientific policy lobbying, which I have always felt to be very important.”

For a long time, Westermarck has been furthering the cause of funding for biomedicine and clinical medicine research. “I have also wanted to provoke general discussion on the role of science in Finland. It can certainly be measured by the amount of funding, but universities also need space to do things more freely.” [continue reading]