Dr Serena is being honoured with the Dr Josef Cancer Research Prize 2019 for her breakthrough research which enables new possibilities of cancer treatment.

Dr Serena Nik Zainal. Picture credit: Facebook

The Dr Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award is a prestigious science prize which aims to honour outstanding cancer research in the biological, basic medical, clinical diagnostic and therapeutic fields.

The UK-based scientist will be receiving the award at the University of Bern in Switzerland today with her collaborators from the University of Cambridge, Dr Paul Calleja and Dr Ignacio Medina.

Picture credit: Twitter

Their research is titled “Accelerating holistic cancer genome interpretation towards the clinic” and will also be presented during the ceremony.

The study accelerates the holistic interpretation of the cancer genome by finding that mutations in cancer tumours can be analysed using new bioinformatic methods, thus, enabling new approaches to targeted therapies.

Picture credit: lifvisindi

FYI, Targeted therapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs.

It is different from traditional chemotherapy because targeted therapy works by targeting the cancer’s specific genes, proteins, or the tissue environment that contributes to cancer growth and survival.