Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease affecting 8-9000 people each year in the UK. Sadly one person dies of pancreatic cancer every hour, and only 5% of patients live for five years or more after diagnosis. Unfortunately due to its late presentation currently over 80% of people are not diagnosed until the disease is advanced at which point there are very few treatment options and only 10-20% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer can go on to have potentially curative surgery.

The Leicester HPB unit are raising money raising money to support the research being done in Leicester to benefit patients all over the country. Organising studies and analysing samples to help us learn and understand the processes involved in the development and resistance of cancers is very expensive and as a consequence we need to find ways of raising money to ensure that this vital work can continue.

2025 marks a remarkable milestone for the UHL Transplant Unit as we celebrate 50 years of transplant activity.

UHL Transplant unit has benefitted enormously from collaborative research with Professor Dennison and the HPB research team. One particularly exciting area of our ongoing work is in perfusion research, where we are exploring the use of caspase-3 inhibitory pathways to counteract the ischaemia-reperfusion injury in kidneys exposed to prolonged ischaemic times. By employing novel therapeutic agents, our hope is to reduce ischaemic damage, enabling us to utilise more donor organs, improve clinical outcomes and ultimately expand the donor pool, offering new hope to patients on transplant waiting lists.

To mark this important anniversary and to give back in a meaningful way, we’ve decided to take on a challenge: a 100-mile cycle ride to raise funds for research. Neither Atul nor I would claim to be seasoned cyclists—so it promises to be a long, gruelling day in the saddle!

As clinicians deeply involved in research, we understand the enormous financial pressures it faces. Every advance we make relies on support, and we would be incredibly grateful for anything you can contribute to help us continue this vital work.

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and generosity.

Mr. Atul Bagul & Mr. John Black